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184 Lit. Intell.-France.........Germany...North America... Africa. [MAR.

London to be of any great use to the country."

The celebrated letter to Lord Monteagle, disclosing the gunpowder-plot, has been generally attributed to Mrs. Habington, a sister of that nobleman, and wife to one of the conspirators. The letter, which is still extant in the state-paper office, shews the traces of the erasure of the word "you" in the phrase "the love I bear to you," and the substitution of "some of your friends," as if the writer, upon recollection, was afraid to furnish a clue to a discovery. But a gentleman who has lately examined the letter, has stated, that though Mrs. Habington might have dictated it, the hand-writing closely resembles that of Mrs. Ann Vaux, who was connected with the conspirators, and was also the intimate friend of Mrs. Habington. It seems likely enough that Mrs. Habington should have employed a feigned hand, or the pen of a friend, to conceal her own; but, to make the proof complete, some specimen of her own writing is necessary to compare with the letter in question. Some persons, who are making inquiries on the subject, wish to know if any specimen is extant.

FRANCE.

The Abbé de la Mennais, in proof of the disbelief of the youth of France in the doctrines of the Catholic Church, states, that he recently detected forty of the students of the college of Paris, when at mass, secreting the consecrated wafer, instead of swallowing it; and that they wrote letters to their friends, informing them what they had done, and closing their letters with the wafers instead of

wax.

GERMANY.

The bishop of Strasbourg, in his reply to Mr. Faber's Difficulties of Romanism, animadverts severely upon our countryman for an alleged wilful suppression of two passages; the one from Tertullian, and the other from Cyril of Jerusalem, which the bishop fancies to be favourable to transubstantiation; both which passages are actually quoted and commented upon by Mr. Faber, in that very work. The bishop must choose the alternative of being either inexcusably careless or very dishonest.

The annual Philosophical Congress of Germany, at which were present at its formation in 1822 only eight members, this year numbered 467 collected at Berlin, not only from every part of Germany, but many of them from foreign countries. The conference lasted a week. The object of

the institution is to promote, by personal and friendly intercourse, the general interests of science. The meeting next year will be held at Heidelberg. Baron Humboldt, who presided at the late meeting, stated that he should not be present this year, as he expects to be upon his travels in Asia, probably in the heart of Siberia. UNITED STATES.

Matthew Henry's Commentary is being published in New York in an octavo form. Dr. Alexander, in his preface to the first American edition, mentions, as among the characteristics of this popular commentary its "perspicuity, conciseness (query), vivacity, fertility, variety, and its weighty pointed sayings."

Strong petitions have been presented to Congress against the practice of opening the post-offices or forwarding letters on Sunday.

The Chaplain of the State Prison at Sing Sing writes:" I have lately made thorough inquiry among the convicts here, for the purpose of learning how many have ever enjoyed the advantages of a SundaySchool. The result is, that out of more than five hundred convicts, not one has been found who has ever been, for any considerable time, a regular member of a Sabbath School; and not more than two or three, who have ever attended such a school at all."

NORTH AMERICA.

The recent invention of the Cherokee alphabet is a remarkable monument of talent and perseverance. The inventor, who is known by the name of Guess, is a Cherokee, and ignorant of every other language; but hearing that the White people "could put a talk upon paper," he began with attempting to substitute symbols for words, and with great labour invented several thousand; but finding at length that this plan would not succeed, he formed the idea of dividing words into syllables, and with great labour affixed a character to every syllable in the language. He eventually obtained an English grammar and formed an alphabet, but had still the greatest difficulty in persuading his countrymen to adopt it; but they have at length found its advantages, and are already making rapid progress in literature. AFRICA.

It is melancholy to contrast the present state of Northern Africa, with its former advances in civilization and Christianity. A council of African bishops was held at Carthage as early as the year of Christ 215; and, in the year 240, a council of 99 bishops was assembled at Lambesa, an

inland city on the confines of Biledulgerid, against Privatus, bishop of Lambesa, on a charge of heresy. The fourth council of Carthage, in the year 253, was held by 66 bishops, respecting the baptism of infants. In the eighth council at that place, in the year 256, besides priests, deacons, and laymen; there were present 87 bishops. In another council of Carthage, about the year 308, no fewer than 200 bishops of the sect of the Donatists were present; and in the year 394, at Baga, an inland city of Africa, 310 bishops were collected together. Can Christians think of these

facts, and of the present Mohammedan or Pagan superstitions of that country, and not be stirred up to zealous efforts to reclaim these wanderers from a once numerous fold. The importance of the Church Missionary Society's Mediterranean Missions, in this and other respects, has not yet been done justice to by the public. CEYLON.

In the time of the Dutch there were more than 300 idol temples in Ceylon: in 1807 they had increased to more than 1200. In 1663 there were 65,000 Christians in Jaffna, in 1814 scarcely 5000.

LIST OF NEW PUBLICATIONS.

THEOLOGY.

Sermons, Lectures, and Discourses. By the Rev. E. Irving. 3 vols. 17. 11s. 6d. Sermons. By the Rev. F. Close. 1 vol. 8vo. 12s.

Portraiture of a Christian Gentleman. By a Barrister. 6s.

The Divine Origen of Christianity. By J. Sheppard. 2 vols. 14s.

Co-operation with Christian Missionaries recommended. A sermon. By the Rev. W. Clayton.

Redemption by Christ. By the Rev. R. Hale.

Lectures on the Sermon on the Mount. By the Rev. J. E. Good. 14s.

The Spirit of the Psalms.

A Plain Address on the Public Dedication of an Infant to God.

Memoir of the late Rev. W. Goode. 9s.
The Sinner's Justifying Righteousness.

By J. Beart: abridged by the Rev. T. Jones. 5s.

MISCELLANEOUS.

The Blue Mountains of Coimbatoor. By the Rev. J. Hough. 6s. Domestic Instruction. By Mrs. Matthias. 2 vols. 5s.

Letters to a Friend. By the late Dr. Henry, of South Carolina; edited by Dr. J. P. Smith. 5s. 6d.

Letters on Teaching. By J. Pillins. 5s. The Character of the late Mrs. G. Ewing. By the Rev. E. Miller.

Visits to the Religious World. 10s. 6d. An Essay on Man. By G. Wirgman 8vo. 7s. 6d.

The Christian Mariner's Journal. By an Officer in the Navy. Cs.

Universal Education considered. 2s. 6d. An Account of the Edinburgh Sessional School. By J. Wood. 4s. 6d.

RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE.

NECESSITIES OF BOHEMIAN

PROTESTANTS.

THE following is an extract of a letter from the Countess Von Reden, of Buchwalde, Silesia, to a friend in London. "Permit me to mention to you the case of the Protestants at Hermanseiffen, near Aman, in Bohemia, from whom a messenger arrived with me about three weeks ago. He came from the Protestant minister of that place, who begged that I would give him Bibles, Testaments, and tracts, for the use of his Protestant congregation. Their number is six hundred and sixty. They have a chapel of weatherboarding, and a miserable dwelling for their minister; but neither a school-house nor school-master, being too poor, and oppressed by Roman-Catholic influence,

which has taken away their courage. The Protestant children must, therefore, attend the Roman-Catholic school, till they are thirteen years old, and consequently, according to our customs, ready for confirmation. This school is miserably conducted, and one may easily suppose what a baneful influence such an education must have upon the minds of the children. The minister is a pious, humble-minded man, entirely devoted to his work. His complaint is not, that he has only one hundred dollars (seventeen pounds sterling) salary per annum, but that he must despair of ever being able to afford a school-house and a Protestant master. All he requests, therefore is, that by charitable donations, he may be enabled to build a school-room, as a second story

upon his own dwelling, instead of the present small wooden garrets, in which he may keep school himself. But I most earnestly wish, that we might be enabled to assist him in building a proper school-house, and engaging a regular master. I therefore mention this to you, and hope you will kindly take it to heart, and recommend the case to some of your benevolent friends. The English delight in works of charity; they subscribe to the wants of the poor Greeks, the Waldenses, the Heathen, and other necessitous persons. May we not hope that a few crumbs from their table might be afforded to the poor Protestants of Hermanseiffen, who, under present circumstances, and but for so zealous a minister, might relapse into total ignorance. The Lord will surely reward those who contribute to so charitable a work, and promote His cause in a land of darkness. Notwithstanding all opposition, we hope to get Bibles and Testaments introduced among them. My heart bleeds, when I consider the blindness and ignorance prevailing in that country."

Donations towards the relief of this poor Protestant congregation will be thankfully received by the Rev. C. I. La Trobe, 19 Bartlett's Buildings, Holborn; also by the Rev. Dr. Steinkopff, Savoy; and faithfully transmitted to the benevolent Countess Von Reden.

INFANT SCHOOLS. Professor Norton, of Cambridge College, Massachusetts, who has been travelling in Europe, paid a visit to an infant school in Liverpool, an account of which he has thus given in a letter to one of his friends:

"We attended, a few days since, an infant school, which has given me quite new views and feelings on the subject. I have seldom been more affected-it is ⚫ not too strong a word-than in seeing, as we did, a hundred little creatures, some of them not more than two years old, thus collected together. I had no conception of the possibility of preserving so much order and stillness among such young children, (all under eight years of age,) as we found to exist, apparently without harshness or unpleasant restraint. They were called upon to repeat the pence table, the multiplication table, to tell the number of seconds in a minute, of minutes in an hour, with the names of the months, to answer in their catechism, and to repeat the Commandments abbreviated; all which a majority

of them did, speaking together, clapping their hands in unison, in their singular exercises. Then they were amused by following the motions of their principal mistress, who imitated those used in different employments; This is the way we sow the corn,' or This is the way we wash the clothes.' The children too young to learn were put upon a carpet, to sleep or play as they pleased. Connected with this school was another for children more than seven years of age, containing somewhere about two hundred."

RELIGIOUS REVIVALS IN

AMERICA.

A respectable New-York religious publication, in alluding to the modified opinion which we have expressed respecting the blended good and evil of what are called "Revivals," adds,-"For the editors of the Christian Observer, as men and as Christians, we entertain the highest respect: and we are happy to learn that there is a prospect of their obtaining, ere long, from the pen of one of their own countrymen, information relative to American revivals, which will remove many of their prejudices, and prepare them to rejoice in what, we doubt not, causes joy in heaven, as it surely does on earth."

No such communication has reached us. We have, however, heard of various indications of an unsettled spirit, which unless carefully watched, may be very injurious to the cause of pure and undefiled religion. For example, in a farewell discourse, recently delivered by the Rev. Dr. Lee, on his dismissal from the pastoral charge of the Congregational Church, at Colebrook, Connecticut, occur the following statements :

"Shun as you would the pestilence, that restless spirit of innovation and charge of enthusiasm and blind zeal, which is now spreading through our country, separating pastors from their churches, and laying waste some of the fairest fields of Zion. It is an unprecedented and alarming fact, which ought to be known and seriously weighed, that in this little State, this land of steady habits, long famed for the order, wisdom, and stability of its institutions,-no less than eighteen settled ministers, pastors of churches have, within as many months, been dismissed from their respective flocks. There are thirty-nine vacant parishes in the State; most of which have become so by the dismission of their ministers. Should this work continue in

its present progress, for six years, one half the settled ministers of the state will be dismissed from their charges. Would this be a desirable event-a consummation devoutly to be wished? Let every one pause, and seriously inquire, what are the springs from which this mischief flows?"

Our transatlantic friends may be able to explain these matters satisfactorily; but they cannot wonder that to us, at a distance, they appear somewhat startling. We rejoice to learn such facts as that to the churches of three denominations in a single State, twenty-five thousand members were added in the short space of a year; and to one denomination in another State, seven thousand: but still we cannot but rejoice with trembling.

NEW CHURCHES.

We know of no circumstance more truly gratifying and hopeful to the mind of a Christian spectator than the erection of the numerous churches which are springing, up among us. A very few years since, who could have expected so soon to witness this gloricus spectacle? It was with extreme difficulty, at an enormous expense, and only by means of a special act of parliament, after conciliating all the various and discordant interests and prejudices concerned, that a single church or chapel could be consecrated in the most populous and destitute places; whereas we now see on every side these sacred edifices arising among us, not indeed in equal extent to the wants of the public, but with a zeal and rapidity far beyond the anticipations of the most sanguine. We could wish that some of these edifices were planned in better taste, certain of them not being very creditable to the architectural science of the age; but far more do we wish that in all of them, as happily in very many of them, were to be found a faithful and affectionate pastor, zealously devoted to the spiritual welfare of his flock: yet even in this respect we have reason to bless God for far more than we could have anticipated, considering the lax views which are currently entertained of the duties attached to ecclesiastical patronage. But it is not in reference to the immediate effect, momentous as it is, of these new churches, that we feel most thankful for them; but rather for their value to generations yet unborn, that the children and youth of our country-so many of whose fathers had neither the wish nor perhaps the opportunity to attend a church--may find accommodation prepared for them, in sequence

to what infant schools, Sunday schools, and national schools had so hopefully commenced. May this work of pious munificence prosper, under the blessing of the Great Head of the Church, till every destitute district in the kingdom shall be supplied with a temple consecrated to his glory, and with a resident and efficient minister of Christ, anxious for the spiritual and eternal welfare of the people of his charge.

It would be tedious to trouble our readers with lists of the names and details respecting all these new churches, or to give an account of the customary solemnities at opening them, which, being in the main the same all over the kingdom, are of local rather than general interest. We may, however, without invidious selection, notice the parish of Islington, as affording, perhaps, the most remarkable instance of munificent promptitude in the erection of new churches of any parish in the kingdom. It is, we believe, only about five years since that the present vicar, the Rev. Daniel Wilson, came to the incumbency. At that period, the parish may be supposed to have been rather inclined to rest with complacency upon its recent exertion in building a chapel, than to contemplate the immediate erection of several new ones; and the depressed state of health of the incumbent seemed scarcely to allow of his speedily exciting them to any great effort. Yet with these and other difficulties, within the short period of about four years have been built and consecrated no fewer than three new churches, the last of which has been this month dedicated to the service of God by the Bishop of London. The expense has been borne partly by his Majesty's Commissioners, and partly by the parish; and it is due to the several parties concerned, and especially to the zealous and indefatigable vicar, to state, that the elegance, commo⚫ diousness and good taste of these structures; the economy with which they have been planned and executed, the whole cost of the three being only, we have heard, about 30,000.; and the zeal, unanimity and celerity which have attended their progress, render them a pattern worthy of imitation in other parishes where new churches are required to meet the pressing wants of our growing population. The appointments to these churches, we have understood, have been as honourable to the disinterested piety of the reverend patron, as the erection of them was to his Christian zeal and enterprize. We will only add, that no clergyman, who is

anxious for the erection of a church in his parish, and who will apply his efforts with prudence and vigour to effect the object,

ought to despair after the gratifying success which has attended the pious labours of Mr. Wilson.

VIEW OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS.

self as a candidate, expressly on the ground of his attachment to that course of policy which Mr. Peel considered himself driven by necessity to abandon. The election was contested with great zeal, though with the characteristic urbanity of University contests and its progress and results reflect much credit on all the parties concerned; on Mr. Peel, as having resigned himself into the hands of his constituents at a moment of much temporary unpopularity among the majority of them; to Sir R. H. Inglis, as the object of the choice of this learned and dignified body; and to the University itself, who, having rejected Mr. Canning on this very ques

In our last Number we penned a few remarks with reference to the general principles of the important question now before the legislature; the particulars of the intended enactments not having then been disclosed. Those particulars have since been laid before parliament and the country; and the disclosure is far from having allayed those conflicting agitations of opinion which had been excited by the very announcement of the intention of government, to endeavour to remove the disabilities which affect his Majesty's Roman-Catholic subjects, and to place them upon a civil equality with their Protestant fellow-countrymen. Considering the great importance of this difficult question, and having also just sent in a petition tion, these heats on either side are not a subject for surprise; nor would we speak too severely of the intemperance of honest zeal, where conscience and principle, though perhaps misguided, are its groundwork; but we would entreat those of our readers who wish to form a right judgment upon the subject, to abstract their minds from temporary animosities and partial representations, and to view the matter, so far as they are able, in the simple light of truth, being guided in their researches by those plain maxims of public and private duty which the Scriptures unfold for our direction. Entering upon the inquiry in this spirit, whatever may be the result of the investigation, mutual charity at least will not be allowed to be wounded by exasperations and animosities, which only weaken and disgrace any cause, however good in itself, in the service of which they are employed.

It will not be compatible with our limits to enter at large into the wide field of inquiry which has been opened to us by the pending discussions; our chief object, at least in the present Number, will be to furnish a brief notice of a few events of the month, as connected with this allabsorbing topic.

When the concluding sheet of our last Number went to press, a contest was in progress at Oxford, which was looked to with much anxiety as a test of the opinion of the members of that learned body in reference to the Catholic question. Mr. Peel, in consequence of his change of policy respecting that measure, had, with highly honourable feelings, resigned his seat; and his much-respected opponent, Sir Robert Inglis, offered him

to parliament on the subject, maintained their consistency by disinterestedly preferring a gentleman in private life to another high in office, whose influence and patronage they might reasonably have coveted. The result of the poll, 609 to 755, proves, however, that the number of those electors of the University who are favourable to the removal of Catholic disabilities is larger than had perhaps been generally calculated upon, especially when it is considered for how many years almost the whole of the patronage of the church has been directed into the opposite channel. The election, as we have just remarked, turned almost wholly on the Catholic question; for apart from this, not a few of the voters would have changed sides; and some, we are persuaded, who voted in the minority on the general ground that Mr. Peel had done nothing to deserve the loss of public confidence, or to obliterate the memory of his great services in the melioration of the criminal code and other objects of national welfare, will have been among the first to congratulate both the University and the favoured candidate, that the choice should have fallen upon a gentleman so well deserving of it; and who is particularly endeared to not a few among his countryman, as well by his private virtues, as by his zealous public services in every cause of piety and humanity.

Mr. Peel, on his failure at Oxford, being returned for the private borough of Westbury, Wilts, proceeded on the fifth of the month, to bring in his important bills. Popular petitions had, by this time, rapidly flowed in against the projected measures; serious alarm was also excited

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