A Sermon at the Close of a Series of Lectures on The Signs and Duties of the Times." By T. Scot t, Chaplain to the Lock Hospital. 8vo. THE Lectures above alluded to, were instituted by a society of clergymen who, for nearly three years, preached a series of Lectures suited to the circumstances of the times. The awful crisis is happily terminated by the peace; and the Lectures are given up: and in this Serinon Mr. Scott, with much piety and good sense, urges his fellow-christians to a suitable improvement of the event. Theological Dictionary: containing clear Definitions of all Religious Terms; with a Comprehensive View of every Article in the System of Divinity: an impartial Account of all the Principal Denominations in the Religi ous World. Together with an accurate Statement of the most remarkable Transactions and Events in Ecclesiastical History: with References to the best Writers on Theological Subjects. The Whole being on a Plan entirely New. By Charles Buck. Vol. 1, boards. 95. 6d. THE nature of this work being fully given in the above copious title-page, it is unnecessary for us to enter into particulars. Since not only the Sciences have had their Dictionaries in a collective forin, but almost every distinct branch of knowledge a Dictionary to itself; it is matter of surprize that Theology has not before received that honour. For though we have had various Dictionaries of the Bible, some of them of considerable merit, we have never before seen Divinity and Ecclesiastical History reduced to this convenient form. In a first attempt we should not look for perfection; but Mr. Buck is certainly intitled to much praise for the Jabour and care with which he has collected and arranged a body of information that will be found highly useful both for Ministers and private Christians, especially such as are not accommodated with extensive libraries. Though Mr. Buck is himself a Calvinistic Dissenter, he has shewn his candour and his judgment in stating the sentiments of writers of opposite opinions, and in referring to the ablest authors on each side, as may be seen in the articles Episcopacy, Establishments, Arminians, and Calvinists: but we should be glad if he could prove the truth of his statement, that "Calvinism is preached in more than half the churches in London; and that in Scotland it continues to exist in its original vigour." The first volume only is at present completed, though the second is in forwardness; the whole will make 18 shilling numbers, and be comprized in two handsome octavo volumes. SELECT LIST OF RELIGIOUS PUBLICATIONS. Sold by T. WILLIAMS, Stationers' Court.. MISERICORDIA; or Compassion to the Sorrows of the Heart. By R. Hawker, D. D., 12mo. 4th Edition. 12. Converse with God in Solitude; or the Christian improving the Insuff ciency and Uncertainty of Human Friendship for conversing with God in Secret. Ey the Rev. Learned, and Holy Mr. R. Baxter. Abridged by B. Fawcett, A. M. Third Edition, 12mo. 61. Hints for Religious Conversation with the afflicted, with Children, and with other uninformed Persons. Particularly adapted for the Use of Visitors of the Sick-cor, and Teachers in Sunday Schools. By the late Rev. Mr. Richards. The Fifth Edition improved, with Additions. 6d. RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE. MISSIONARY SOCIETY. Some Time since, we mentioned an intended Mission to the Co rannas; and the following Letter gives the first, and a very pleas ing Account of its Success, by which it appears, that the Power 'of the Lord is the same in Africa as America; and we cannot but hope, that these and the like Instances of the Divine Power and Goodness will prepare a Way for the universal Spread of the glorious Gospel, in all its Power and Purity. THE MISSION TO THE CORANNAS. My dear Sir, Riet Fontain, over the Orange River, Dec.6, 1801. A CONSIDERABLE time has elapsed since I wrote to you last; which letter, I think, was dated the 25th of March. From that time to the present I have had no opportunity; and, if I had had, till we were settled, it would have been very little interesting. I took my journey to the Great Orange River the day following, accompanied by a number of Bastards, and arrived there April 5, though it was considered a dangerous expedition, on account of the Boschesmen, who had not made peace with the colony. I expe. rienced, however, no apprehensions of danger, except at one place, towards the evening, where we were surrounded by a number of Boschesmen with bows and arrows, who followed us a considerable distance, remained with us where we put up for the night, and left us in the morning, without doing us the smallest injury; which we had reason to expect at first, on account of their behaviour. I could not but here admire and adore the interposition of Divine Provi dence. We had shot two wild horses the day before, which ena bled us to supply the Boschemen with victuals; which is a great means of holding friendship among that people. During my stay at the Great River, I was frequently visited by others; and one evening a little Boschesman boy said, that he overheard them deliberating about attacking us the same night, while we slept; and their audacious behaviour gave some reason to credit it, so we slept out of doors the same night, with our guns loaded. Our situation was peculiarly critical, as we were very few in number, having sent the most of the Bastards to Zak River, with the oxen which I pro mised to bring my brethren, and the remainder of the property of the Society here; but the Lord Jehovah was our strength and defence; they altered much in their behaviour in the morning, and, having obtained three sheep, they left us in the course of the day, After this, we made an attempt to cross the river, which, at this time, was considerably broad; and, with much trouble in making floats, by binding pieces of timber together, we succeeded; and remained on this side till I saw my brethren. This part of AfricaTM is the most pleasant that I have seen. In other places there are little else than bushes; but here grows very large grass, though very dif ferent from that in Europe, and along the banks of the river art Mixed breed of Hottentots and other nations. trees trees of different sorts, at some parts, of a considerable size. The river, when. it is full (and that continues often for four and five months in the year) is, I think, 500 or 600 yards over, more or less, at different places I have seen it, I judge, 200 yards: at other times, there are places where a person can walk through. There are many sea-horses in the river During my stay there, I have seen them playing together in the water, and one has been shot by our people. The river abounds with curious stones, of different shapes and colours; yet, generally speaking, there is very little to entertain a stranger, excepting the wild beasts. Since our arrival here, our people have shot two lions, who did us considerable mischief, having killed thirteen beasts, that is, oxen and cows. - On July the 8th, I was visited by my brethren, and, in a few days after, we took our journey to this place. It is about three days Our situation is nearly in the journey further from the Cape. middle of South Africa. We have built an house of rest, and made a large garden, which, should the Lord be pleased to bless this part of our labours, will be of great assistance to us. Shortly after our arrival here, we were visited by Mr. I M. Kok and family; he appears a truly pious man, who has devoted himself and all he has to that delightful work of our blessed Saviour, to publish his name among the people called Brikquas, about five or six days journey N. E. of us. We have been since visited by two commissioners from the government, on their way to the aforesaid people, in order to purchase cattle for the colony; as also by Brother Edwards, who came along with them from the Great Orange River. His views are to labour among that people, of which, I suppose, he has given you a particular account. 1 Respecting the work of the Lord here, at times it appears as if the Lord, by his Spirit, was powerfully shaking among the dry bones: yes, to such a degree, that I doubt, in latter times, if there is an example of the like. While the precious word is making known, numbers hear with tears in their eyes; others are so distressed, that, after sitting for some time apparently in great agony, faint away, and are carried out as dead; and so distressing is the place at times, that it is impossible to proceed in the divine service. My dear Sir, I do not wish to give you to understand thereby, that we think they are all converted, no, but that so it is; and for the remainder we leave it in the hand of the Lord: for, at other times, there appears a sort of indifference; yet some, whose hearts, I believe, the God of grace hath changed, hear with attention; and I have often seen a smile on their countenances, with a tear falling from their eye, when the name of Jesus, and any thing striking relative to his love to poor sinners, hath been mentioned. Indeed, on the Lord's side we have no reason to complain; yet much on our own. O that we were filled with thankfulness, our hearts burning with love to Christ, and looking forward to see still greater things! With respect to their learning:-With many there is a strong desire; some begin to read in the Bible, though it is still imperfectly; and, among the children, there are some who shew a good capacity to learn. Respecting the outward conduct of the people in general, it is as good as might be expected within our knowledge. There appears not the smallest opposition or cn.nity against the gospel, though that may arise from ignorance at present. Our Our views are to establish the Mission here, being surrounded with people at different distances from us; but whether it will succeed or not, is a matter of great uncertainty to me, as the only means of subsistence that the people have is their cattle, which amount to a considerable number, with oxen, cows, sheep, and goats; and the ground here, in the middle of Africa, does not produce at one place a sufficiency for any length of time; so that they have been obliged to journey from spring to spring, having different places at different times of the year, where they live with their cattle. This is easy to be imagined, when we consider the middle of Africa so far from the sea on all sides, experiencing very little rain there, except at one season of the year, when it comes with thunder storms, and in such torrents, as to wash away much of the produce of the ground; at other times, every thing is exposed to the burning heat of the Sun: also, the country being mountainous and stony, more than the half produces nothing; and what the other half produces, is not all food for cattle. Should we attain our object, it will give us a better opportunity, in time, to make those people useful members of society, as well as to publish the great truths of the gospel among them; but, should it otherwise turn out, if we continue desirous to pursue the object of our Missionary work, it will be necessary to journey with them. I should have mentioned before, the order of our religious worship, and number of people In the morning early we sing, read two or three.chapters, and pray with them. After the service, we hold the school, to instruct them to read. In the evening, the Corannas in one place, and the Bastards in another, are spoken to from a portion of the word of God; the Corannas, through the me dium of an interpreter. Our numbers are various: we had, I think, from 300 to 600. Our outward situation is, in many respects, comfortable. I have nothing more to add at present, but to express my longing expectations to receive letters from England, and to hear what progress the cause of our blessed Saviour is making in the world. The Brethren desire to be remembered to you. Be pleased to express my love and respect to all the Directors, and all who love our Lord Jesus. I remain your obedient servant, and, through divine grace, AMERICA. Conclusion of a Letter from the Rev. G. Baxter, Principal of Washington Academy, continued from our last, p. 375. THE number of persons who have fallen down, under serious impressions in this revival, is another matter worthy of attention; and on this I shall be more particular, as it seems to be the prin cipal cause why this work should be more suspected of enthusiasm than some other revivals. At Cane Ridge sacrament it is generally supposed, not less than 1000 persons tell prostrate to the ground; among whom were many infidels. At one sacrament which I attended, the number that fell was thought to be more than 300. Persons who fall, are ge nerally such as had manifested symptoms of the deepest impressions for some time previous to that event. It is common to see them shed tears plentifully for about an hour. Immediately before they become totally powerless, they are seized with a general tremor, and sometimes, though not often, they utter one or two piercing shrieks in the moment of falling, Persons in this situation are affected in different degrees; sometimes when unable to stand or sit, they have the use of their hands, and can converse with perfect composure. In other cases they are unable to speak, the pulse becomes weak, and they draw a difficult breath about once in a minute: in some instances their extremities become cold, and pulsation, breathing, and all the signs of life, forsake them for nearly an hour. Persons who have been in this situation have uniformly avowed that they felt no bodily pain; that they had the entire use of their reason and reflection; and when recovered, they could relate every thing that had been said or done near them, or which could possibly fall within their observation. From this it appears, that their falling is neither common fainting, nor a nervous affection. Indeed, this strange phænomenon appears to have taken every possible turn to baffle the conjectures of those who are not willing to consider it as a supernatural work. Persons have sometimes fallen on their way from public worship; and sometimes after they had arrived at home; and, in some cases, when they were pursuing their common business on their farms, or when retired for secret devotion. It was before observed, that per. sons are seriously affected for some time previous to their falling: in many cases, however, it is otherwise. Numbers of thoughtless sinners have fallen as suddenly as if struck with lightning. Many professed infidels, and other vicious characters, have been arrested in this way, and sometimes at the very moment when they were uttering blasphemies against the work. At the beginning of the revival in Shelby county, the appearances, as related to me by eye-witnesses, were very surprising indeed. The revival had, before this, spread with irresistible power through the adjacent counties; and many of the pious had attended distant sacraments with great benefit. These were much engaged, and felt upsual freedom in their addresses at the throne of grace, for the outpouring of the divine Spirit at the approaching sacrament in Shelby, The sacrament came on in September. The people, as usual, met on Friday; but all were languid, and the exercises went on heavily, On Saturday and Sunday morning it was no better; at length the communion-service cominenced: every thing was still lifeless. Whilst the minister of the place was speaking at one of the tables, without any unusual animation, suddenly there were several shrieks from different parts of the assembly; instantly persons fell in every direction; the feelings of the pious were suddenly revived, and the work progressed with extraordinary power, till the conclusion of the solemnity. This phænomenen of falling is common to all ages, sexes, and characters; and, when they fall, they are differently exercised. Some pious people have fallen, under a sense of ingratitude and hardness of heart; and others under affecting manifestations of the love and goodness of God. Many thoughtless person, under legal convictions, have obtained comfort before they arose. But,, erhaps, the most numerous class consists of those who fall under distressing views of their guilt, who arise with the same fearful apprehensions, and |