dark. The evening however was extremely pleasant; a brisk cool breeze sprang up, and the skies were perfectly serene, the stars twinkling with uncommon brilliancy. I stretched myself along before my fire; having the river, my little harbour, and the stern of my vessel in view; and now through fatigue and weariness I fell asleep.

This temporary release from cares and troubles I enjoyed but a few moments, when I was awakened and greatly surprised, by the terrifying screams of owls in the deep swamps around me; and what increased my extreme misery was the difficulty of getting quite awake, and yet hearing at the same time such screaming and shouting, which increased and spread every way for miles around, in dreadful peals vibrating through the dark extensive forests, meadows, and lakes. I could not after this surprise recover my former tranquillity of mind and repose, during the long night; and I believe it was happy for me that I was awakened, for at that moment the crocodile was dashing my canoe against the roots of the tree, endeavouing to get into her for the fish, which I however prevented. Another time in the night, I believe, I narrowly escaped being dragged into the river by him; for when, through excessive fatigue I had fallen asleep, but was again awakened by the screaming owl, I found the monster on the top of the bank, his head towards me not above two yards distant; when starting up and seizing my fusee well loaded, which I always kept under my head in the night time, he drew back and plunged into the water. After this, I roused up my fire, and kept a light during the remaining part of the night, being determined not to be caught napping so again: indeed the musquitoes alone would have been abundantly sufficient to keep any creature awake that possessed their perfect senses; but I was overcome and stupified with incessant watching and labour.

As soon as I discovered the first signs of daylight, I arose, got all my affects and implements on board, and set sail, proceeding upwards, hoping to give the musquitoes the slip, who were now, by the cool morning dews and breezes, driven to their shelter and hiding places. I was mistaken however in these conjectures, for great numbers of them, which had concealed themselves in my boat, as soon as the sun rose, began to revive, and sting me on my legs, which obliged me to land in order to get bushes to beat them out of their quarters.

A JEWISH TRADITION.

Illustrative of God's Providence.

MOSES, to whom, by a peculiar Grace,
God spake (the Hebrew phrase is) face to face,
Call'd by an heavenly voice, the Rabbins say,
Ascended to a mountain's top one day;

Where, in some points perplex'd, his mind was eas'd,
And doubts, concerning Providence appeas'd.
During the colloquy divine, say they,

The Prophet was commanded to survey,
And mark what happen'd on the plain below
There he perceiv'd a fine clear spring to flow
Just at the mountain's foot; to which, anon,
A soldier on his road, came riding on;
Who, taking notice of the fountain, stopt,
Alighted, drank; and, in remounting, dropt,
A purse of gold; but as the precious load
Fell unsuspected, he pursued bis road:
Scarce had he gone, when a young lad came by
And, as the purse lay just before his eye,
He took it up; and, finding its content,
Secur'd the treasure; and away he went.
Soon after him, a poor, infirm old man,
With age, and travel, weary quite, and wan,

Came to the spring, to quench his thirst, and drank,
And then sat down, to rest him, on the bank;
There while he sat, the soldier, on his track,
Missing his gold, return'd directly back;
Light off his horse, began to swear, and curse,
And ask'd the poor old fellow for his purse:
He solmnly protested, o'er and o'er,
With hands, and eyes uplifted, to implore
Heaven's attestation to the truth, that he
Nor purse, nor gold, had ever chanc'd to see
But all in vain; the man believ'd him not,
And drew his sword, and stab'd him on the spot.
Moses, with horror and amazement seiz'd,
Fell on his face!-The Voice divine was pleas'd
To give the Prophet's anxious mind relief,
And thus prevent expostulating grief:-
Be not surpriz'd; nor ask how such a deed
The world's just JUDGE could suffer to succeed:"
The child has caus'd the passion, it is true,
That made the soldier run the old man thro';
But know one fact, tho never yet found out,
And judge how that would banish every doubt
This same old man, thro' passion once as wild,
Murder'd the father of that very child.

An account of the choice which DEATH the king of terrors, made in selecting a prime minister from among his courtiers.

DEATH, the king of terrors, was determined to chuse a prime minister, and his pale courtiers, the ghastly train of diseases, were all summoned to attend. When each preferred his claim to the honour of this illustrious office. Fever urged the numbers he destroyed; cold Palsy set forth his pretensions by shaking all his limbs. Gout hobbled up, and alledged his great power in racking every joint; and Asthma's inability to speak, was a strong, though silent argument, in favour of his claim. Stone and Cholic, pleaded their violence; Plague, his rapid progress in destruction; and Consumption, though slow, insisted that he was sure. In the midst of this contention, the court was disturbed with the noise of music, dancing, feasting, and revelry; when immediately entered a lady, with a bold lascivious air, and a flushed jovial countenance: She was attended, on one hand by a troop of cooks and bacchanials; and on the other, by a train of wanton youths and damsels, who danced half naked to the softest musical instruments; her name was INTEMPERANCE. She waved her hand, and thus addressed the crowd of diseases. Give way, ye sickly band of pretenders, nor dare to vie with my superior merits in the service of this monarch; am I not your parent? The author of your being? Do ye not derive your power of shortening human life almost wholly from me? Who then so fit as myself for this important office? The grisly monarch grinned a smile of approbation, placed her at his right hand, and she immediately became his prime Favourite and PRINCIPAL Minister..

An account of the sufferings and horrid death of a Negro slave in Pennsylvania-which sufficiently evinces the necessity of the abolition of such laws as allow the enslavement of human beings.-Arminian Magazine.

I was not long since invited to dine with a Planter who lived three miles from To avoid the heat of the sun, I resolved to go on foot, sheltered in a path, leading through a pleasant wood. I was leisurely travelling along, attentively examining some peculiar plants which I had collected, when, all at once, I felt the air strongly agitated, though the day was perfectly calm and sultry. I immediately cast my eyes toward the clear ground, from which I was but a small distance,

in order to see whether it was not occasioned by a sudden shower; at that instant, a sound resembling a deep rough voice, uttered, as I thought, a few inarticulate monosyllables. Alarmed and surprised, I precipitately looked all around, when I perceived at about six rods distance, something resembling a cage, suspended to the limb of a tree; all the branches of which appeared covered with large birds of prey, fluttering about and anxiously endeavouring to perch on the cage. Actuated by an involuntary motion of my hands, more than by any design of my mind, I fired at them; they all flew to a short distance with a most hideous noise: when, horrid to think, and painful to repeat, I perceived a Negro suspended in a cage, and left to expire! I shudder when I recollect that the birds had already picked out his eyes; his cheek-bones were bare; his arms had been attacked in several places, and his body seemed covered with a multitude of wounds. From the edges of the hollow sockets, and the lacerations with which he was disfigured, the blood slowly dropped, and tinged the ground beneath. No sooner were the birds flown, than swarms of insects covered the body of this unfortunate wretch, eager to feed on his mangled flesh, and drink his blood. Í found myself instantly arrested by the power of affright and terror; my nerves were convulsed; I trembled; I stood motionless, involuntarily contemplating the fate of this Negro in all its dismal latitude.

The living spectre, though deprived of his eyes, could distinctly hear; and in his uncouth dialect begged me to give him some water to allay his thirst. Humanity herself would have recoiled back with horror; she would have balanced, whether to lessen such reliefless distress, or mercifully with one blow to end this dreadful scene of agonizing torture! Had I had a ball in my gun, I certainly should have despatched him, but finding myself unable to perform so kind an office, I sought, though trembling to relieve him as well as I could. A shell ready fixed to a pole, which had been used by some negroes, presented itself to me; I filled it with water, and with trembling hands I guided it to the quivering lips of the wretched sufferer. Urged by this irresistible power of thirst, he endeavoured to meet it, as he instinctively guessed its approach, by the noise it made in passing through the bars of the cage. "Tanki you, white man, tanki you, puti some poison, and givi me."-How long have you been hanging there? I asked him." Two days and me no die; the birds, the birds, aah me!" Oppressed with reflections which this shocking spectacle afforded me, I mustered strength enough to pass away, and soon reached the house where I intended to dine.

There I heard that the reason for this slave's being thus punished, was on account of his having killed the overseer of the plantation. They told me that the law of self-preservation rendered such executions necessary, and supported the doctrine of slavery with the arguments generally made use of to justify the practice; with the repitition of which I shall not trouble you.

ACCOUNT OF INFIDELS.

Some particulars of the lives and deaths of several Infidels, as
Voltaire, Rousseau, D'Alembert, Diderot, Condorcet, Thomas
Paine, Antitheus, &c.

But the old Dragon's tail has not so wide a swing
As when the sixteenth Lewis was a Galic King.

It is not, perhaps, generally known, that Voltaire, who in the course of his life, distinguished himself above all others in the propagation of infidelity, visited England, at an early age, and received marks of attention from George the first, and several of the nobility, which he did not deserve. The present King of Great Britain, however, to his honour be it spoken, has never countenanced the Infidels of France; and to his Majesty's religious disposition it may be owing, under God, that, the English nation now enjoy more civil liberty, more real Christianity, and consequently more happiness, than any other nation in Europe.

When Voltaire was in England, he determined to dedicate his life to the vile project of destroying CHRISTIANITY; and on his return to Paris, he was so full of this design, and so sanguine in his hopes of accomplishing it, that when M. Herault, the Lieutenant of the Police, reproached him with his wickedness, and said to him, "You may do or write what you please, you will never be able to destroy the Christian religion," Voltaire answered without hesitation, "That is what we shall see." And with insufferable arrogance, he would exclaim, " I am weary of hearing people repeat that twelve men have been sufficient to establish Chris"tianity. I will prove that one man may suffice to destroy it."* His correspondence with the famous Frederic King of Prussia, deserves attention in this view.

In August 1759, in a letter to the King he says, "I am afraid "that you want leisure at the close of the campaign, and that "you are so occupied in cudgelling the Arabians, Bulgarians, &c. "that you have not time to apply yourself to PHILOSOPHY, and

Vie de Vure, chit, di Ko!