this populous village (cripples, aged poor, and infants excepted) have been enabled to earn their livelihood by their own exertions, without receiving any relief from the parish."* In six weeks a young woman from Avebury instructed 30 persons at Devizes, in the whole art of the straw platt. The work is therefore easily learnt. The raw materials is of very little value. The work encourages cleanliness, it being indispensable that the hands at least should be clean; it is done at home, and it may be done by children of eight years of age, and persons incapable of other employment. Subjoined are Hints as to the Manufacture of Split Straw, which were published by Mr. Dou gan for distribution. 5. Extract from an Account of the Ladies Schools, and some other Charities at Leeds, by THOMAS BERNARD, Esq. Five Schools of Industry, lately established, contain each 50 poor girls, who are instructed in reading, knitting, and sewing. The schools begin and close each day with prayer; and two hours every week are devoted to religious instruction, and to the catechising of the children. The schools are equally open to all persuasions of Christians, and are each under the direction of a committee of twelve ladies, chosen annually from among the subscribers. The committee meets only once a quarter; the members exercising in weekly rotation the office of visitor, whose duty it is to attend the school twice a day, and to ascertain whether the families who solicit admission for their children are proper objects of the charity. Each subscriber may recommend one girl not under nine years of age, who shall be a proper object, and whose parents will enforce diligent attendance. *Dr. Briggs has introduced the straw platt into the school at Kendal. Several of the girls now earn half a crown a week by it, and yet devote part of the day to sewing work. It may thus maintain children at school, without interfering with their education. The children attend alternately, half from nine to twelve, and the other half from two to five, or in winter from one to four. Besides these schools, there are several other well-conducted charities in this town: Donations of coals, blankets, clothing, &e. at Christmas-friendly female societiesalms houses, supplying cottages, and annual allowances to sixty aged and distressed individuals of the lower class; and decent habitations, and a comfortable allowance for ten or twelve decayed gentlewomen, above sixty years of age-a general infirmary, open to strangers as well as townsmen-a work-house, which begins to support itself, the elder children spinning and weaving cotton, the younger setting cards, carding wool, and platting straw; the sexes being separated-a strangers friend society, which distinguished itself during the late typhus fever by extraordinary exertions, seeking out the poor and friendless, visiting the sick and forlorn stranger in the abodes of misery and infection-and an infection fever-house, for which £.3000 have been been raised, above twice as much as repeated solicitation has been able to raise in London. 6. Advice to the Foundling Apprentices on the termination of their apprenticeship. An ECLIPSE of the MOON took place on the evening of the 26th inst. An ECLIPSE of the SUN will happen on the morning of the 11th of February next, larger than any which will occur for twelve years to come. The sun will be about three-quarters eclipsed in this part of the kingdom. In latitude thirty degrees north, and longitude six degrees east, the sun will be centrically eclipsed at noon: there will then be a small ray of solar light encompassing the moon on every side. At London the eclipse will begin at twentyseven minutes past ten, its middle will be at thirty-nine minutes past eleven, and its end at fifty-five minutes past twelve: digits eclipsed, eight degrees thirty-six mi nutes. LIST OF NEW PUBLICATIONS. THEOLOGY. An Exposition of the Lord's Prayer; in which are comprehended, an Account of the Origin of the Prayer, an Explanation of its several Petitions, and a demonstration that it contains a complete Summary of Christian Doctrine; with illustrative Notes; by the Rev. Joseph Mendham, M. A. crown 8vo. A Sermon preached at the church of Allhallows, London-wall, on the late General Fast-day; by the Rev. William Bellve, 1s. A Sermon preached on the Fast-day to a Congregation of Protestant Dissenters, at York. By Charles Wellbeloved. Is. A Letter to the Bishop of London; suggesting a further consideration of a Passage in the Gospel of St. Matthew. 2s. 6d. The Sentiments proper to the present Crisis; a Sermon preached on the Fast day: by Robert Hall, A. M. Is. 6d. A Sermon preached on the Fast-day, at Chatham Church; by James Lynu,M.A.2s. A Discourse delivered in the Dissenting Chapel at Lympston, on the late Fastday. By the Rev. Thomas Jervis. s. 6d. The Tears of Peter, a Sermon, translated from the original French of Peter Du Bosc, Pastor of the French Church at Rotterdam. 1s. 6d. Sacred Hours; or, Extracts from Private Devotions and Meditations; comprehending the Psalms, classed under various Heads; with Prayers, Hymns, &c. chiefly selected from Scripture. 8vo. 10s. 6d. boards. The Influences of Religious Principle upon the present State of the Nation; illustrated from a Review of the Cause of the French Revolution, 8vo. Three Discourses by the late Rev. William Turner, of Wakefield. The Churchman's Remembrancer, No. 2. Svo. Occasional Sermons. By Samuel Herbert, D. D. 8vo. The Benefits of Wisdom and the Evils of Sin, a Sermon preached before the Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, November 6, 1803. By the Rev. Robert Nares. 8vo. The Sword of the Lord and of Gideon, a Discourse preached at Epsom. By the Rev. Robert Gutch, 8vo. The Christian Dicectory, or a sure Guide to present and eternal Happiness. By the Rev. and pious Richard Baxter, abridged from the Original by Adam Clarke, translator of Sturme's Reflections. 4 vols, &c. &c. in 2 large vols. 8vo. 16s. boards. Rev. Mathew Henry's Methods for Prayer; a new Edition; to which is added his daily Communion with God, in which the References to the Scriptures are added. 12mo. 3s. bound. MISCELLANEOUS. Vol. 4, of the Bibliographical Dictionary, containing a Chronological Account, alphabetically arranged, of the most curious, scarce, useful, and important Books in all Departments of Literature, which have been published in Latin, Greek, and other Foreign Languages, with Biographical Anecdotes of Authors, Printers, and Pub lishers, &c. including the whole of Dr. Harwood's View of the Classics, &c. 12mo. 6s. boards, or on a Royal Paper, hot-pressed, 9s. An Account of the Astronomical Discoveries of Kepler; including an Historical Review of the Systems which had prevailed before his time. By Robert Smart, F. R. S. 8vo. 7s. 6d. The Fourteenth Volume of the Archaologia, 11. 11s. 6d: The Revolutionary Plutarch, exhibiting the most distinguished Characters in the recent Annals of the French Republic, including the whole of the Consular Family, with the Generals and Admirals employed to invade England. To which is added, a Reprint of the celebrated Pamphlet "Killing no Murder." 2 large vols. 12mo. 12s. boards. The Necessity of the Abolition of Pluralities and Non-residence, with the employment of Substitutes by the beneficed Clergy, demonstrated in an Enquiry into the Principles and Consequences of the Establishment of Curates. 8vo. 7s. 6d. The Causes and Consequences of the Neglect of the Clergy; and the Condition of the Clergy as it relates to his present Majesty. 8vo. 2s. 6d. A Practical Grammar of the Ancient Gaelic; or, Language of the Isle of Man, usually called Manx. By the Rev. John Kelly, LL. D. 4to. 6s. boards. Christ raising the Daughter of Jairus; a Seatonian Prize Poem. By the Rev. William Cockburn, M. A. 2s. Substance of a Speech delivered by Lord Castlereagh in the House of Commons, upon the Army Estimates. 1s. 6d. The Substance of a Speech intended to have been spoken in the House of Lords, November 22d. By the Bishop of Landaff. 1s. 6d. A Serious Address to the Public upon the present Times. 1s. Honest Apprehension; or, the Unbiassed and Sincere Confession of a plain, honest Layman. 2s. 6d. A plain Answer to the Misrepresentations and Calumnies contained in the Cursory Remarks of a near Observer. 2s. : Presbyteries, revivals of religion varying in extent, but attended with no extraordinary circumstances of bodily agitations have taken place. Many hundreds have thus been added to the Church in the course of the last year. In many of the Southern and Western Presbyteries, revivals still more extensive have taken place; but these have been attended in mul titudes of instances with great bodily agitation, and other extraordinary appearances; but at the same time with increasing evidence that it is indeed the work of God; as the ignorant are enlightened, the vicious reclaimed, the erroneous made to acknowledge and obey the truth as it is in Jesus; the infidel humbled and brought to bow, penitent, and belieying, at the feet of Christ, and the general aspect of society changed from dissoluteness and profanity, to sobriety, order, and comparative purity. Instances have occurred of the most malignant opposers of vital piety being convinced and reconciled and of some learned, active, and conspicuous infidels becoming the signal monuments of that grace which once they despised so that in the last year, several thousands have been brought to embrace the Gospel of Christ within the Presbyterian Church, and zeal and strength as well as numbers have been added to it. Even in those places where there have been no exextraordinary appearances, the ordinances of the Gospel have been more attended, infidelity is less bold and active, and the aspect of things more encouraging. The revivals spoken of above, were generally preceded by the institution of praying societies, and have been attended with an encreasing desire to spread the Gospel among the Blacks and Indians. On the frontiers, new Churches are rapidly forming, and encreasing in numbers. The assembly indeed see much to lament in the vice and irreligion which still abound; but they think it would be ingratitude to God not to acknowledge that the state of religion is more favourable than at any time during the last forty years." bodily agitations and other extravagancies with which this transatlantic revival is attended. We refer our readers to the first volume of this work, p. 667, for a fuller statement of our views on this subject than our limits will now permit us to give. At present we shall content ourselves with remarking, that in the Bible we can find nothing which resembles these violent agitations, excepting the instances which are given of demoniacal possession; and we have little doubt, that in the case before us, they are in a great measure the work of Satan, who thus tries to discredit religion, if he cannot altogether impede its progress; and who hopes, by the substitution of so unscriptural and delusory a mark of grace, arising from impressions made on the imagi nation and which are easily communicated by the power of sympa thy, to lead men to a groundless presumption of the satety of their state, and thus to make them perhaps more his children than they were before. We should therefore have been much more gratified with the ac count, had we found ministers, so faithful to their duty, and so regardless of popularity, as uniformly to discourage and reprove these disorders. In such a case (we speak from observation) these disorders would speedily cease to disgrace the cause of religion, while the progress of vital godliness would be far more sure and stable. We shall take a more convenient opportunity of expressing fully our sen timents on this point. : We cannot close this account, which every Christian must, in many - respects, contemplate with real satisfaction and thankfulness, without again expressing our deep regret on account of the encouragement which seems to be given by ministers to those UNITED BRETHREN. The thirty-eighth number of their periodical accounts has lately been published. A few extracts from it will be gratifying to our readers. 1. The state of GREENLAND is represented as now greatly changed. Lichtenau (the southernmost of the three Moravian settlements) alone can now be considered as a mission among the heathens, the inhabitants in the neighbourhood of that place being still addicted to heathenish practices. Of these thirteen were baptized in 1802. But the inhabitants around the other two settlements, Newherrnhut and Lichtenfels, consist chiefly of persons baptized by the brethren, and educated in christian principles. Those who do not belong to the brethren's Church have all been baptized by the Danish Missionaries, so that NO TRACE OF PAGANISM IS NOW LEFT IN THAT NEIGHBOURHOOD. "That power of Saturn, which peculiarly manifests itself in a land where heathenism bears the sway, and of which people living in Christian countries cannot well form an idea, seems to have been entirely subdued in that part of Greenland; and the general darkness has fled before the light of the Gospel. Even those who do not as yet devote themselves with their whole hearts to their God and Saviour, are aware of and enjoy its blessed influence as in other parts of Christendom." Let us join the brethren in blessing God for his unspeakable gift! 2. At Sarepta near ASTRACAN a fire had burnt down a saw-mill and two flour-mills, and the brethren's settlement narrowly escaped. Their loss by the fire has been considerable. Although the mission at this place has not succeeded in communicating the Gospel to the Calmucks, it has been very useful among the German colonists on the Volga. 3. The mission of the brethren at TRANQUEBAR has now entirely ceased. 4. At SURINAM the Missionaries were all well in July last, and their labours among the Negroes and Indians continued to be attended with the divine blessing. At the close of 1802, the Negro congregation at Paramaribo consisted of three hundred and thirty-eight; twenty-five adults were baptized during the year: at Bambey it consisted of forty-nine, three having been baptized. 5. In ST. KITT's, from Easter 1802 to Faster 1903, one hundred and thirty-nine adults were baptized. 6. The number of Negroes belonging to the brethren's Church in ANTIGUA, in August 1803, was one thousand seven hundred and thirty-four, exclusive of new people*. During the last ten years, the number baptized in the island by the brethren was five thousand four hundred and twenty-four. In 1773, the congregation did not exceed five hundred. The mission first * Meaning people who attend divine worship, though not admitted members of the Brethren's Church. began in 1757, since which time thirteen thousand two hundred and eighty-seven have been baptized. Only thirty-seven brethren and sisters have been employed in this mission from the beginning. 7. The congregation at BARBADOES has not increased much of late, but it consists of faithful persons. The Missionaries have received assurances of protection from the government, and, in general, enjoy the favour of the white inhabitants; but they have had to encounter difficulties from the Negroes. 8. No accounts have been received, during the year, of the mission among the Hottentots at BAVIANSKLOOF. This number contains also an interesting account of the two Otaheiteans who lately died in Yorkshire; the substance of which we shall endeavour to give in our Obituary of this or some future month. The life of one of the Missionaries, FREDERICK VOEGTLE, who, after labouring thirty-eight years with unwearied patience among the Arawacks in South America, died in the seventy-ninth year of his age, is likewise given. The following extract will afford our readers some idea of the laboriousness and zeal of this servant of God. "In his younger years he was one of the most active and laborious of men, and sought, by the labour of his hands, not only to earn his own maintenance,but to support the mission as opportunity offered. He could make shoes, do carpenter's and joiner's work, build boats, and understood farming. He also rendered great service to his fellow Missionaries by his medical and surgical knowledge. To serve and help others was his delight, and even in old age and infirmity he was ever ready to exert himself for the good of the congregations in any way that offered." A Letter from the Reverend Mr. LA TROBE gives, at considerable length, a very remarkable account of the merciful preservation of the lives of two Missionaries on the coast of Labrador, which we have read with peculiar interest. VIEW OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS. INSTEAD of making any reflections of our « I "What an interesting picture does Nehemiah here exhibit," observes the preacher, "of the union of religion and patriotism; of faith, which refers success in war to the blessing of heaven; and of valour, which contends for victory on the high places of the field! May his example, and his exhortation awaken in our hearts every christian and manly principle of conduct; and, -in the defence of our country, make us to glow with a faith and courage like his own." 64 The enemies of the Jews were strong and implacable; their object was not to conquer, but to destroy; and, to human appearance, they had power to effect their design. Such is the character and views of our enemy. He possesses every feature calculated to inspire terror. His stature and proportions are enormous and gigantic." "One half of Europe constitutes the Colosses of his might, and the other half .trembles and crouches at his feet." "At his stern and rapacious command, his vassal kings surrender the gold and silver of Peru, the wealth of Brazil and Naples, the industry of Holland, and the commerce of the north of Germany. His soldiers are veterans flushed with victory, and fleshed with slaughter; inured to hardships, familiar with danger, and skilled in all the arts of war." "The flaming villages of Germany *This patriotic Sermon was preached to the LOYAL MACCLESFIELD FORRESTERS, on Sunday, Nov. 27, 1803, by MELVILLE HORNE, Minister of Christ Church, Macclesfield. It is sold by Button, in Pater-noster Row, price one shilling. We shall be glad if the extracts now given should lead any of our readers to assist in promoting its circulation, particularly among our soldiers, both regulars and voiunteers; as we doubt whether among the innumerable popular tracts of the day, any one has appeared better adapted both to raise and to regulate their zeal and courage in the service of their country. and Helvetia, the cold-blooded masacre of Jaffa, the violated daughters of Swabia and Hanover, the merciless requisitions extorted wherever they go, and the more than human horrors of their warfare in St. Domingo, are dreadful witnesses, that they have heads to contrive, and hearts and hands to perpetrate every crime. "At the head of this formidable body we see a man, the wonder of his age, and whose name, feared and execrated, will never be erased from the page of history. A foreigner, a needy adventurer, of mean birth, and of a contemptible nation, has found means to raise himself above his fellow generals, and to establish a military despotisin among a people still delirious with theories of impracticable liberty. Unprincipled, fierce, subtle, bloody, and remorseless, he tramples on all the laws of God and man."-Hatred and revenge impel him to the desperate attempt of invading our island. "The magnanimity of British counsels, the resources of British commerce, the spirit and freedom of the British nation, and the successful valour of the British arms, frustrate his vast plans of empire, cherish the dying embers of freedom, and remain the last hope and asylum to the ravaged and intimidated continent. Our brave old king will not prostitute his crown and dignity to this upstart Haman. Hezekiah trusts in his God, and braves the sword of this vain-glorious Sennacherib. The patience of this far-famed hero, whom God created and rested from his labour†, can bear no more. He extends his exterminating arm to Britain. His chains are forged, his torches lighted, and unbounded licence of conflagration and slaughter, lust and pillage, proclaimed to his barbarous hordes. Himself, like the destroying angel, will ride on the tempest, direct the storm, and execute his proud decrees, or perish in the attempt. And if my country has spun her last bright line of empire, and -filled the measure of her sins; if this be her fatal hour, and there be on earth a nation, an army, a general, equal to the task of pouring the phials of wrath on our guilty heads, France is that nation, Bonaparte that general, and the myriads of sanguinary Frenchmen, who now shade our coasts, form that army. "Nevertheless, my brethren, I exhort you, by the mercies of God, which have never failed us in time of need, and by the memory of your brave progenitors, who These are the servile Batteries addressed to him in France. |