education, to frequent the sanctuaries of God. In these and various ways the power of teaching is multiplied by the power of religion; and if the tongue, when "set on fire of hell," as the Apostle expresses it, is so mischievous, what may not be hoped for when it is inflamed by the devotion, the grace, and the love of heaven? May it not, on the clearest principles of the Bible, be anticipated, that whereas, at present, a few only from the Sunday-school occasionally join the Christian church, a multitude would then come, flying with winged zeal, to that sacred abode, like doves to their windows?"

It is most befitting that the young who instruct others younger than themselves in the general principles of evangelical truth should be converted, and spirituallyminded; and the public voice, which is waxing louder and louder, like a trumpet, should be heard, which demands that, on their own account, as well as that of the children taught, and of the church, which, by means of its teaching, members become more closely connected with the school. The guides of the youthful mind should be at once intelligent, pious, and devoted. Dr. F. A. Cox.

THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

I HAVE long deplored the ravages made in our language by the introduction of foreign terms, the injudicious mode of accentuation, and the confused rapidity which has long prevailed, and is still prevailing, in our pronunciation. Several of our best writers have contributed to the debasement and metamorphosis of our language; some by introducing Græcisms and Latinisms (especially the latter), and others by affected terms. Dr. Johnson has formed a compound language, which may be called Anglo-Latin; and in so doing he has left nine-tenths of the nation behind him, and greatly injured the nervous simplicity of our language, while rendering it more sonorous. But, indeed, such innovations in the English tongue set criticism at defiance, as we have scarcely any STANDARD by which alterations and pretended improvements may be tried, our present language being a compound from all the languages of Europe. The elements of every language should be simple, in order to be understood, and especially the letters, or what is commonly called the alphabet. The English alphabet is remarkably defective in proper sounds for its vowels, and in proper sounds and names for its consonants, and it is encumbered with consonants which are of no service whatever, as they contain no elementary sounds, and their power is expressed by other letters in the alphabet.-Adam Clarke.

CARE IN COPYING THE SCRIP
TURES.

THE Jews have ever had a profound veneration for their Scriptures, and have laboured to preserve their purity. In transcribing them, it has been a rule, that whatever is considered as corrupt, shall never be used, but shall be burned or otherwise destroyed. A book of the law, wanting but one letter, with one letter too much, or with an error of one single letter, written with anything but ink, or written on parchment made of the hide of an unclean animal, or on parchment not purposely prepared for that use, or prepared by any but an Israelite, or on skins of parchment tied together by unclean strings, shall be holden to be corrupt; that no word shall be written without a line first drawn on the parchment; no word written by heart, or without having been first pronounced orally by the writer; that before he writes the name of God, he shall wash his pen; that no letter shall be joined to another; and that, if the blank parchment cannot be seen all around each letter, the roll shall be corrupt. There are settled rules for the length and breadth of each sheet, and for the space to be left between each letter, cach word, and each section.

POSSESSION OF THE BIBLE. THE amiable Sheffield poet, says, the possession of the Bible alone, including treasures of history, jurisprudence, poetry, and ethics, capable above all other books, of informing, expanding, delighting, and exalting the mind, while the heart is purified,the possession of the Bible alone, with the power of reading and understanding its wonderful and blessed contents, sets the humblest Christian among us above the most enlightened heathen philosopher, in the knowledge of the true God.

BIRTH OF A SON.

THE Persians look upon a son as a blessing, and its birth is announced with great ceremony to the father. Some confidential servant is usually the first to get the information, when he runs in great haste to his master, and says, "Mujdeh!" or good news, by which he secures to himself a gift, which generally follows the Mujdeh. Amongst the common people, the man who brings the Mujdeh, frequently seizes on the cap or shawl, or any such article belonging to the father, as a security for the present, to which he holds himself entitled. This may illustrate Jer. xx. 15, "Cursed be the man who brought tidings to my father, saying, A man child is born unto thee; making him very glad."

We

THE Rev. B. Parsons has recently published a most interesting and valuable work 01 ** The Greatness of the British Empire traced to its Sources." In the section on the advantages which the nation has derived from science, he introduces Temperance, and thus justifies its introduction :-"Temperance is a chemical and physiological, as well as a moral question. It refers to health, intellect, and religion, and shows to what an extent each of these may suffer from diet, and especially from the beverages we use. Some of our greatest citizens have fallen through intemperance. might mention poets, philosophers, eloquent men, senators, merchants, and ministers of religion, who sacrificed all their usefulness to their love of strong drink. And not only drunkenness has produced sad havoc among us, but the moderate use of these poisonous liquors has been far more destructive. Of course, every drunkard comes from the ranks of the professed sober drinkers; but this is not all, nor, indeed, a thousandth part of the evil. Those who boast that they can take these beverages without harm, are among the most deluded victims of the bottle. The feeling that they cannot do without them, is one of the greatest proofs they can have that the mischief is begun. Disease has commenced its fatal ravages on their digestive organs and nerves, and rendered them the poor dependent slaves of the tankard, the decanter, or the spirit-stand; and perhaps to these must now be added the pipe, the cigar, the snuff box, and copious potations of strong tea and coffee. The medicine-chest also, and the physician, are, it is not unlikely, supposed to be equally essential to the existence of these unhappy and trembling dyspeptics. The devastation also continues, for every remedy used is an aggravation of the evil. Well has the wise man said, 'Wine is a mocker,' for these poor, deluded moderate drinkers are its dupes every day. It professes to relieve them, but carries on its deadly work under the fatal mask. How many strong men have we seen with every nerve shattered, and every muscle shaking, through what they have called the temperate use of these destructive drinks! We have known them obliged to leave the mart, the counter, and the pulpit; we have seen them languish

under liver affections, jaundice, dyspepsia, intestinal complaints, nervousness, congestion of the brain, paralysis, brain fevers, melancholy, madness, and apoplexy, and then go to the grave years before they had run out their course, or done the work which God raised them up to accomplish. And we lament to say that such has been the end of numbers of the choicest spirits in our land. Men who might have blessed their country, the world, and the church, for half a century longer, with their wisdom, eloquence, and example, have been hurried, by their own vitiated appetite, from all their usefulness, to the bar of God, to give an account of their suicidal diet and drink. Never, perhaps, was this evil more prevalent than now. It pervades all classes of society it is the scourge of the great and the wealthy-the destroying angel of the middle classes-the demon of the social circle-the bane of the church--and the pest of the working classes. What volumes the lunatic asylum could furnish respecting this tremendous woe! How many of the masses are clothed in rags, lie upon straw, and feed on the coarsest food, with not half enough of that to satisfy the cravings of hunger, and all because of their love of drink? These liquors ruin our most promising Sunday-school children; annually seduce hundreds of our church-members; make husbands worse than lions and tigers; sink wives below swine; and people our madhouses, hospitals, unions, gaols, and penal colonies. There is hardly a person hung, but the crime is more or less connected with these poisons. So far we are now advanced in intelligence and morality that, were these liquors abandoned, our police magistrates and judges would have scarcely anything to do. Among the multitude, also, as well as among the wealthier classes, moderation is the parent not only of drunkenness, but of deterioration of character, nervousness, indigestion, liver complaints, paralysis, and premature death so that here is an evil and a crime more extensive and fatal than any other, which pervades the land, debases our citizens, and shortens human life. In conse. quence of its ravages, we are threatened with the destiny of Egypt, Babylon, Bagdat, and other kingdoms, states, and cities, which have fallen through dissipation."

THE following letter recently received by Mr. Vanderkiste, City Missionary, and sent to us, will interest our readers:

DEAR BROTHER VANDERKISTE, I am engaged in a great work, the work of the Gospel ministry; and there are many counteracting influences both in myself and in the people. Most of the people we have to do with are English. They came hither for the purpose of improving their condition, and this is their pursuit. If they have been members of Christian churches, and active men in the cause of God in England, they have left their posts, severed associations, and now they do not settle down and enter heartily into the cause of God. The employment of the miners is fluctuating, exciting, and depressing; sometimes they may work months and obtain scarcely anything, and sometimes strike a "lode" and get several hundred dollars in a few weeks. Many of them move about from one village to another, according as the "mines" prosper best.

Within the last three years, hundreds have gone from these mining regions to California. The excitement had somewhat subsided last fall, but a few having returned home this summer with a tolerable booty, this has revived the excitement, although many have lost their lives, and others their health, and many have returned with less money than they carried away. Yet numbers have gone this fall; and professors of religion are as keen, I find, as others in pursuit of gold.

Three of our members at Platteville, who had comfortable homes, and very good prospects, left their wives and families in pursuit of Mammon; and there are others, I fear, whose hearts are there. It seems to unsettle the community, and check the progress of religion. I feel the need of more wisdom, more zeal, more faith, more love to God, and more love to my fellow

and two from Potosi, and four from the river Mississippi: our Society is small here, about fifteen members only, and I scarcely know how the new church is to be finished and paid for. The population is thinly scattered in Grant County, and morals are lower here than they are at Shuttsburgh and Mineral Point. There is more Sabbathbreaking and gambling, &c., especially as you get nearer the Mississippi.

One

I hope the Lord will use me for his glory, and for the salvation of my fellow-men. I sometimes feel the sentiment, England with all thy faults, I love thee still;" but I trust I am willing to be anywhere the Lord would have me to be, and I hope and pray to be made useful in his cause here. of the greatest drawbacks to this country is the extreme cold in winter, and great heat in summer. The roads also are bad in this circuit, as there is considerable timber to the west of Platteville. You would think I looked rather strange in a fourwheeled carriage, called a Buggy," with a fur cap and gray over-coat, and a buffalo skin over my legs and knees, driving through the woods to my appointments.

I suppose Mr. J. Winders called upon you; he is a simple-hearted well-disposed young man, he built us a new church at Benton, principally at his own expense, and is liberal in supporting the cause. We have just been holding our Missionary meetings, and collected 150 dollars, and have sent a missionary up to Fort Winnebago; we are expecting two preachers from England immediately, as they are in want of two at "New Diggings."

You do not say anything about coming here, and I do not feel as if it is my duty to press you, because you are engaged in a great and good work. Everything is in a crude state, and you would find a great contrast between this and London. There are not such extremes of wealth and poverty. I have not seen so much poverty in eighteen months here, as I did in eighteen hours in London.

Our mission is principally to the English. The population being made up of all countries, and all creeds, it becomes on several accounts a difficulty in gathering churches large enough to support a minister. The Presbyterians and Congregationalists are in want of forty ministers in this State; but the principal reasons for their lack of ministers are, that scarcely any of the churches support their ministers without assistance from the Home Missionary fund,

and they attach very great importance to educational training. The Episcopal Methodists, also, are generally in want of preachers. If our two come, according to expectation, I do not suppose we shall want any more for a few months. Yours, WILLIAM TOMKINS.

Platteville, Wisconsin.

HORRORS OF SLAVERY. Adam Clarke's brother, Tracy, was in early life surgeon on board a slave ship, and gave the following specimen of the diabolical system :--A stout young negress, with an infant at her breast, was brought on board, and presented to the captain by one of the black dealers, who by long trafficing in flesh and blood with the inhuman European slave dealers, had acquired all their unfeeling brutality. The captain refused to purchase her, saying, he could not be troubled with children aboard. The dealer answered, "Why, massa, is she no good slave? is she no able to work!" "Yes," answered the captain, "she would do well enough, but I cannot receive children." "Well, massa, would massa buy slave if she had no child?" "Yes," said the captain, "I should have no objection to her." On this the black dealer stepped up to the woman, snatched 1 the child out of her arms, and threw it overboard; on which the captain, without expressing the least concern, purchased the mother.

On one occasion a slave could not be induced by any threats, or inflicted punishments, to take his food. The captain beat him in the most inhuman manner with a mall cutting whip; but without a sigh or groan he obstinately persisted. Boiled beans were one day brought, and they endeavoured to induce him to eat; he closed his teeth in determined opposition. The captain got a piece of iron, prized open his jaws, and broke several of his teeth in the operation; he then stuffed his mouth full of the aliment, and with the butt end of his whip endeavoured to thrust it down his throat. He was instantly suffocated; and the fiend, his murderer, said on perceiving it, "See, d-- them, they can die whenever they please!"

One day when companies of the slaves were brought upon deck for the sake of fresh air, and an iron chain was passed through their fetters, and then bolted to the deck, it happened that a negro got his feet out of his fetters, and stealing softly till he got to the bowsprit, he then, in order to attract the attention of his tormentors, set up a wild loud laugh; as soon as he found he was observed, he leaped into the deep, and sunk to rise no more.

The cap

tain instantly scized his musket loaded with ball, and fired down in the place in which he sunk, that he might have the pleasure of killing him before he could be drowned.

SPANISH SMUGGLERS.

Raymond, a celebrated European traveller, bears the following testimony :-Speaking of the Spanish smugglers, he says: "These smugglers are as adroit as they are determined, are familiarised at all times with peril, and march in the very face of death. Their first movement is a neverfailing shot, and certainly would be an object of dread to most passengers; for where are they to be dreaded more than in deserts, where crime has nothing to witness it, and the feeble no assistance? As for myself, alone and unarmed, I have met them without anxiety, and have accompanied them without fear. We have little to apprehend from men whom we inspire with no distrust or envy, and everything to expect in those from whom we claim only what is due from man to man. The laws of nature still exist for those who have long shaken off the laws of civil government. At war with society, they are sometimes at peace with their fellows. The assassin has been my guide in the defiles of the boundaries of Italy; the smuggler of the Pyrenees has received me with a welcome in his secret paths. Armed, I should have been the enemy of both; unarmed, they have alike respected me. In such expectation, I have long since laid aside all menacing apparatus whatever. Arms may, indeed, be employed against the wild beast; but no one should forget that they are no defence against the traitor; that they irritate the wicked, and intimidate the simple; lastly, that the man of peace, among mankind, has a much more sacred defence-his character.

A PEACEFUL DELIVERANCE. In the early part of the year 1833, an agent of the Bible Society was travelling in Texas. His course lay through a piece of wood, where two men waylaid him with murderous intentions, one being armed with a gun, the other with a large club. As he approached the place of their concealment, they rushed towards him; but finding that no resistance was offered, they neither struck nor fired. He began to reason with thein; and, presently, they seemed less cager to destroy him in haste. After a short time, he prevailed on them to sit down with him upon a log, and talk the matter over deliberately; and finally, he persuaded them to kneel with him in prayer, after which they parted with him in a friendly manner.