the duties, to the amount of 1207. sterling, if shipped within five or six weeks, and this sum so saved will be added to the funds of our society. Having learnt that your Excellency would attend to an application, which had for its object the extension of religious truth, I have ventured to make this request, without any introduction, or apology. And having had the honor of transmitting the fund subscribed for replacing the Bibles captured, which were bound to Nova Scotia, I beg leave to refer your excellency to Mr. Black, of your city, through whom the correspondence was held, for any particulars which may be deemed necessary. I have the honour to be, with high respect your Excellency's most obedient servant, JOHN TAPPAN, Treas. of Mass. B. Soc. Answer to the above: Sir, Halifax, 7 April, 1815. I AM directed by His Excellency, Lt. General Sir J. C. Sherbrooke, to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 28th February, and in reply to acquaint you, that His Excellency, fully impressed with the pious and benevolent intentions expressed therein., has given orders that the invoice of Bibles, Testaments, &c. which you mention, shall be received in this port whenever the Bible Society of Massachusetts may be pleased to send them. And upon the receipt of these books here, Sir J. C. Sherbrooke will communicate to the parent society in England this very liberal act of the Massachusetts Bible Society, and at the same time take the pleasure of the British and Foreign Bible Society respecting the farther disposal of the books. His Excellency desires me to express the sense he entertains of your exertions in this christian cause, and to assure you that he sincerely participates with you in the hope that the period is rapidly advancing, in which the sacred scriptures shall be read in every nation in the world. I have the honor to be, Sir, with great respect, your obedient humble servant, T. F. ADDISON, Lt. Col. & Milit. Sec. & See. to the N. S. Bible Soc. To JOHN TAPPAN, Esq. Letter of his Honor William Phillips, President of Mass. Bible Soc. to Lord Teignmouth. My Lord, Boston, May 31, 1815. The communication from the Committee of the Bible Society, ac quainting us with the donation they were pleased to make us of the Bibles destined for the Cape of Good Hope, and captured by an American Privateer, was duly received. It is made my duty to acknowledge this act of liberality and to express to you the feelings it has excited. We see in this instance, as well as in the encouragement and aid afforded by you, to our Society, in its infancy, a proof of interest in the success of religion in our country, which we shall always most gratefully remember. In the present case, for reasons which are detailed in the communication to Mr. Tarn, which accompa nies this note, it has been thought by us that the general cause, in which your Society as well as ours is engaged, will be best promoted by allow ing us to decline your donation. In doing this, however, we beg you to believe, that we entertain the most perfect respect for the opinion of the Committee of the British and Foreign Bible Society, and are led to differ from it, only by the consideration of some important facts, which could not have been within their knowledge at the time of making their donation. We hope that our motives will meet with your approbation. we The manner in which your Society has been pleased to regard the humble, but well meant exertions have been enabled to make, in repairing some of the evils of our late unhappy war, has deeply affected us, and would more than repay much greater efforts. We may be permitted to hope, that the peace, which by the goodness of God is now restored, will render future friendly offices more easy, and that henceforth, the only strife between your country and ours, will be in zeal in the cause of christian benevolence, and "of pure and undefiled religion" throughout the world. I am with the highest respect, my Lord, your Lordship's most obedient, humble servant. WILLIAM PHILLIPS, Pres. of Mass. B. Soc. Rt. Hon. LORD TEIGNMOUTH. P. S. We have taken the freedom, which we trust your Lordship will pardon, to consign the Bibles to your address in order to remove all doubt with regard to them at your Customhouse. The period within which the draw. back would have been legally recov erable having elapsed, and we having since received communications from the British and Foreign Bible Society, it is thought most convenient to ship the Bibles directly to England. But although it thus seems no longer necessary to avail ourselves of the permission you have granted, we should be very insensible, did we not beg your Excellency to accept our best thanks for your goodness and for the very gratifying manner, in which it was made known to us. It must be matter of the most sincere joy to every benevolent mind to see the cordiality with which christians of every rank and every country unite their effort for the diffusion of the scriptures. We may regard it as one of the most encouraging proofs of the advancement of piety, and the approach of that period, when "the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ." I am, with the greatest consideration, your Excellency's most obedient, humble sevant, WILLIAM PHILLIPS, Pres. of Mass. B. Soc. His Ex. Lieut. Gen. SIR J. C. SHERBROOKE, &C. &c. Publications on the subject of war. FROM different quarters we have recently received a number of publications on the custom of war, which we may notice more particularly in a future Number. These publications present a coincidence of events remarkable and animating. It appears that nearly at the same time, God has been calling the minds of christians to this awful subject, not only in several of the United States, but also in Great Britain. The prospect would be in a high degree encouraging, were it not for the revolution in France and the ecclesiastical war, which has been recently excited in this region. This event we most sincerely deplore, believing that by the unholy passions and prejudices indulged by different sects one towards another, the eyes of christians have been long closed against the antichristian nature of public wars. O that God would speak to the tempest of warring passions late ly raised among us, and say with effect, "PEACE, BE STILL." Candidates for the ministry in Gambridge and its vicinity. Mr. David Reed, Cambridge. Mr. Joseph Allen, do. Mr. Samuel Gilman, do. appears with indisputable claims to our regard. He was born in 1705, in a town called St. Arcangelo, near Rimini. LORD KAMES justly remarks, that "the christian religion is eminent for a spirit of meekness, toleration and brotherly love; and yet persecution never While a child he was raged so furiously in any other averse to childish amusements religion." Such incongruity be- and strongly attached to books. tween profession and practice-He made rapid progress in must have been a disgrace to learning, and at the age of 18 christians, and a stumbling block became a noviciate in the order to unbelievers of every descrip- of St. Francis. Having studied tion. philosophy and theology, he soon became a teacher. At the age of 35 he was called to Rome to teach theology in the College of St. Bonaventura. In 1745 he was appointed joint Consulter in the Holy Office. In 1746 he became Chief Consulter. In 1759 he was appointed Cardinal. In 1769 he was elected Pope, or sovereign Pontiff of the papal church, and assumed the name of Clement XIV. To this dignity he gradually rose from a state of obscurity. So far as an opinion may be formed from the sketches of his character, and from his letters and other writings, he was a man of eminent talents, fervent piety and benev olence, strict integrity and amiable manners. In all the stages of his exaltation, he was The controversies among christians have too commonly been conducted with a schismatic, heretical spirit, which blinds the eyes of men to their own faults, and to every thing amiable in the character of their opponents. It also disposes each party to indiscriminate censure and reproach. Such was the manner in which the controversy between papists and protestants was conducted, and by which they became alienated from each other. There is however much reason to suppose, that on each side there have been many amiable persons, who mourned and lamented the extravagance and the licentiousness of their brethren. Among the amiable characters of the papal church Ganganelli Vol. III. 33 war. of a modest, self-diffident and condescending disposition. He was raised to the pontificate in perilous times, when several of the neighboring princes were at variance with the see of Rome, and apparently on the eve of By his talents and conciliatory spirit, he effected a reconciliation. Great disaffection had existed in various popish countries on accout of the ascendancy which the Jesuits had obtained, and the immoral maxims which they propagated. This subject Ganganelli took up and examined with the greatest deliberation, and having become fully convinced that this institution of the Jesuits was pernicious to the best interests of the church, and to the peace of society, he with great firmness issued a decree for its total abolition. To the poor he was a friend -in application indefatigablein punishing just without severity-in authority without pompamid all the changes of human affairs still unshaken, still the same-in giving audience, easy and humane." He died September 22, 1774, in the 70th year of his age-having reigned as Pontiff 5 years, 4 months and 3 days. It will doubtless be thought by many to be impossible that Ganganelli should be both an intelligent and a good man, and yet in such errors that he could become a member of the inquisition-a Cardinal and even a Pontiff. But why should this appear to us incredible? Why may not all his errors be ac counted for on the ground of his education, and those delusions and prepossessions which result from tradition and long established customs? What is there more absurd in the opinions, or more antichristian in the practice of papists, than some things which have been popular among protestants? Did the papists of former ages persecute even unto death? So did the protestants. Did the papists wage war against their fellow men, and even their fellow christians? The protestants have often done the same. Now what worse things than these can be laid to the charge of either? Do we not see men in our own time, who are esteemed both intelligent and pious, so bewildered by their prejudices and passions as to imagine they do God service in making war on the moral characters of unoffending brethren? And what was ever done by Ganganelli more difficult than this to reconcile with intelligence, piety and a christlike temper? But to give a more impressive view of the amiable spirit of Ganganelli, we shall make a few extracts from the two volumes of "Interesting LettersBulls, Briefs, and Discourses." "Behold how religion has been announced in the world, and in this manner is she always announced by those ministers who know her, and wish to make her universally beloved. Open her books, enter into her temples, hearken to her instructions, and you will find that her language is only the language of charity; she employs no authority but persuasion. It never was reli gion, but it was false zeal who, pretending to imitate her, seized fire and sword to compel heretics to abjure their errors, and Jews to become christians. Religion anathematizes all who have a persecuting temper, or a spirit of party zeal. The enemy of cabals, of violence, of accusations, she loves only peace and good will; and although she thunders against errors, she spareth those that maintain them and solicits their forgiveness with the Prince of the earth and the God of the Universe." Vol. ii. pp. 183, 184. "Had all the ministers of the gospel been careful to take Jesus Christ for their model-had they seriously considered that sinners were kindly received, the samaritans and sadducees kindly borne with by the divine Savior-we had seen no excess in the bosom of the church, nor had the enemies of christianity ever been able to bring against her the unjust reproach of being a persecutor. Under a pretence of defending the interests of God and the church, men become seekers of themselves, and take for real zeal the effervescence of a boiling blood, or heated imagination." p. 189. "The spirit of intolerance and persecution often springs from entire ignorance. Men suffer themselves to be led by the blind, and fall with them.-The characteristics of a true zeal are gentleness and persuasion. An air of severity to unbelievers never fails to irritate rather than convert them. We see persons animated by a false zeal, kindle into rage and assume a murder, ing aspect and tone, when they see or hear of a man who has the misfortune to be out of the right path. But true zeal which is according to the knowledge of God, is only inflamed by the spirit of charity, and never shows itself but with the mildest look, never expresses itself but in the kindest terms.-Our Lord himself when he prayed for his executioners, taught us how his cause is to be avenged-But a party spirit is so much more dangerous as it assumes all forms, even that of piety, that it may exercise its tyranny. They who are actuated by it seek only after dominion." pp. 190, 191. "Methinks I hear this divine religion calling loudly on all those who have been persecuted by party spirit-It is not by me you have been persecuted; sprung from the bosom of the Father of mercies, I recommend only charity; being the fruit of divine love to mankind, I desire only their salvation, breathing nothing but self denial and humility. In imitation of my divine Master, I lay myself at the feet of the whole world, and after his example I preach only a spirit of gentleness and peace. Though inexorable to vice and error, I have no other arms but tears and prayers and censures purely spiritual to bring back sinners." P. 194. "What an acquisition would it be to the church, did the protestants again return into its pale! They would mingle their lights with ours, and this would form a league the most admirable and most efficacious for the over |