the parents of our coal strata; but then it will be asked, how has this mighty change been effected? Is it merely by aqueous agency, a kind of decay and rotting down of the wood; or has fire been called into action, torrifying the vegetable matter, and the pressure under which it has operated, preventing the escape of volatile matter, caused the formation of bitumen? And are those reservoirs of compressed carburetted hydrogen, from which blowers result, to be ascribed

to such a mode of formation?

The London papers mention that the coach established on the Stockton and Darlington Railway, carried lately, in one day, no less than one hundred and fiftyeight passengers, the whole of whom were drawn by two horses.

One thousand seven hundred and nineteen emigrants, going westward, have arrived at Black Rock, by canal boats, since the first of May last.

Alligators.-A Newbern, (N. C.) paper says: "Alligators of a very large size have recently shown themselves in our river, even close to the publick wharves. Some time since a large one was taken, and lately another of the great length of twelve feet six inches, whose expanded jaws seemed sufficiently capacious to receive a full grown boy."

Anglo-Chinese College of Malacca.— Among the admirable enterprises of the English, is the establishment of a college, and eight schools, in Malacca, for teaching the Chinese and Malay tongues to the English subjects, and the English language to those two sects of Asiatics.There is likewise a Tamul school. The leading object is to aid the mission for propagating the Christian religion to the Chinese, and other orientals: but students who can pay for their tuition, are admitted for the purpose of acquiring these modes of speech and their dialects, to qualify themselves the better to pursue commercial and other business in these populous and productive regions with which we have an increaing intercourse.

Dr. Ebel, in his account of the Canton of Appenzel, says "In the gardens near the river Sitter, such numbers of snails are kept during the summer season, that the sound caused by their denticulated jaws, while they are eating, may be distinctly heard. Young snails are collected in the adjacent parts, and are placed in these gardens, where the owner supports them, till, on the approach of winter, they enclose themselves. In addition to the food which they find on the grounds, they are supplied with leaves of lettuces, cabbages, and other vegetables, by which

they grow and fatten amazingly. Some time before Lent, the owners pack up the enclosed snails in casks, and carry them for sale to the convents of Suabia, Bavaria, and Austria, and even as far as Vienna, where they are purchased as delicacies."

The once popular author of "The Pursuits of Literature," is still at Naples, where he has recently been seriously in. disposed. Mr. Mathias's health, however, is now perfectly restored, and with it his ardour in pursuit of Italian poetry. He has just published a new work, which is greatly esteemed in that country.

New Method of Preparing Quills.-The following is the manner in which M. Schloz of Vienna, proceeds in the preparation of. quills for writing, by means of which he renders them more durable, and even superior to the best Hamburg quills. For this purpose he makes use of a kettle, into which he pours common water, so as to occupy the fourth of its capacity; he then suspends a certain quantity of fea thers perpendicularly, the barrel lower. most, and so placed, as that its extremity only may touch the surface of the water; he then covers the kettle with a lid properly adjusted, boils the water, and keeps the feathers four hours in this vapour bath. By means of this process he frees them of their fatty parts, and renders them soft and transparent. On the following day, after having scraped them with the blade, and then rubbed them with a bit of cloth, he exposes them to a moderate heat. By the day after, they are perfectly hard and transparent, without, however, having the inconvenience of splitting too easily.

Messrs. G. & C. Carvill, of New York, have printed, from the last and improved British copy, a very handsome edition in octavo, of Dick's moral and instructive work, entitled, "The Christian Philosopher; or the Connexion of Science and Philosophy with Religion.” It deserves publick patronage on every account.

Mr. David Flagg, of Gardiner, Maine, has received a patent for a Family Grist Mill, which is thus described in the northern papers." Meal and flour of the first quality are made in it, and they may, at pleasure, be bolted by the same operation. Its principal recommendations are, its cheapness, and the small mechanical power required to give it motion. It costs only thirty dollars, and will grind two bushels an hour, requiring one man only, or even a boy at the crank. It is acknowledged to be useful, and it will undoubtedly be brought into operation, particularly where the water-mills are scarce, and water power precarious."

The following letter, received within the last month from the Rev. Mr. Stewart, will be found deeply interesting to the friends of missions. We do not think that it was written with a view to publication; but chiefly from a desire to satisfy the editor, that leaving Lahaina was not a matter of choice, but of a most afflictive necessity; and to recognise the goodness of God in the remarkable series of providential occurrences, by which the departure from the Sandwich Islands was favoured. And these are also our motives for laying the whole communication before our readers-with the exception only of a sentence or two at the close, of a merely personal nature. It is due to Mr. Stewart, and to the sacred cause in which he is engaged, that it should be fully known, that he did not desert his post; but that he was most reluctantly compelled to leave it, by a marked providential dispensation, which, in the unanimous opinion of his missionary brethren, as well as of his physicians, made it his imperious duty, to endeavour to save a life justly and unspeakably dear to him, and indeed to all who have ever known his amiable wife, by an attempt to return with her to their native land.

We do not know whether the letter, (which it appears was written at sea,) was sent by a vessel met with, before the Fawn reached Britain; or by some vessel which sailed from London or Liverpool, after the arrival of the Fawn in one of those ports. Since writing the above, we have received a note from Mr. S., dated "49 Westmoreland Place, London, May 18, 1826"-in which it is said, "Mrs. Stewart improved greatly for the first month after our arrivalShe is not quite so well at present -We may probably sail the first of July from this port."

On board the Fawn, off the Western Islands, March 18th, 1826. My very honoured and beloved FriendCircumstances and place have greatly

changed with me and mine, since I last directly addressed you. Yet I presume, will be unnecessary to inform you of the by the time this reaches Philadelphia, it particulars of either. The continuations of my journal to Mrs. B. up to the middle of July, 1825, will have fully apprized you of the afflictive dispensation with which it letters from the Mission to Mr. Evarts, of has pleased God to visit my family; and which some notice will probably appear in the Missionary Herald, will have given information also of the truly unwelcome duty in which it has resulted—that of our departure from the Sandwich Islands, on the 17th of October, for the United States, by the way of England. To receive a communication from me, therefore, dated on the bosom of the North Atlantic, will create no surprise: it will rather give

joy, from the assurance it will convey, that our long voyage is thus far accomplished under circumstances of peculiar mercy. Mrs. Stewart still lives, and we hope will be permitted yet to meet the embraces of her friends in America; though her state is such, that it is impossible to say what a day, much less weeks and months, with the vicissitudes of climate and seasons, still to be experienced, may bring forth. Our all is in the hands of Him, who alone is wise in knowing, and merciful in securing the highest good of his servants; and to his will it ought to be our happiness, and the happiness of all who love us, cheerfully to submit, whether it be made known in open bereavement, or in "blessings undisguised."

Your last letter of affection, of encouragement, and of counsel, dated October 5th, 1824, reached Oahu at a time to be read with deeply affecting sensationswithin a day or two of our embarkation in the Fawn-immediately after it had become clearly our duty to forsake for a season, and perhaps for ever, those scenes and occupations to which you advert with been engaged with so much satisfaction so much interest, and in which we had and pleasure.

As early as during the visit of the Blonde, we had feared that, to save the life of Mrs. S., it would be necessary to leave the islands for a colder climate. By the 1st of September, that impression had become the settled conviction of every member of the mission acquainted with her case, and the professional opinion of all the medical gentlemen with whom Dr. Blatchely had consulted. We considered the point of our return, then, to rest entirely on the fact of her surviv ing, and remaining in a state capable of making a voyage, till an opportunity of leaving the island should offer. That we

should meet with a suitable opportunity at a sufficiently early period, was, how ever, very improbable. Two requisites were essential, which we could not expect to find united in the same ship in this part of the world-a physician, attached to the vessel, and accommodations sufficiently large for our family. In fact, our whole expectation of making a voyage, after the departure of the Blonde, rested on the anticipated visit of Com. Hull, in the frigate United States-of course, our path was covered with great uncertainty. Com Hull might not arrive for months; might not come at all; and if he did, even in time for our purpose, it might not be in his power to accommodate us with a passage.

Such was our attitude, when the Fawn touched at Oahu, for refreshments, in October. We knew she had a physician on board, and soon heard that she was bound directly to London. But so foreign to our thoughts had so circuitous a route been, and so little did we deem it probable that we could be received on board a vessel with a full cargo, not originally designed to take passengers at all, that se veral days passed after her arrival, without the slightest inquiry on the subject. Dr. Short, the surgeon attached to her, having however called a number of times to see Mrs. Stewart, and expressed his decided opinion of the necessity of a speedy removal to another climate, I felt it my duty at least to ask the question, whether he thought it possible for us to procure a passage in the Fawn? To which I was surprised to hear him answer that Capt. Dale and himself had already conversed on the subject, and he did not conceive there was any thing to prevent it, provided the accommodations they could offer, would answer our purpose. Both these gentlemen called the next morning, with an invitation for me to visit the ship. This, to my further surprise, I found to be a very fine vessel, of 450 tons, formerly a sloop of war, in the royal navy, still retaining the large, light, and airy cabin she then had, with advantages and conveniences of every kind, which not one of a hundred of the ships that visit the islands, can boast; and I could but be deeply affected at the kindness and totally unanticipated and unthought of generosity of a stranger, when Capt. Dale, in a delicate and handsome manner, assured me it would give him pleasure to appropriate one half of the cabin to Mrs. Stewart and myself, and an adjoining state-room, communicating with the same part of it, to the children, and our friend Betsey, if we thought we could be comfortable on board his ship, and would ac cept a passage to England, as an act of friendship only. Dr. Short, at the same VOL. IV. Ch. Adv.

time, made a similar tender of such ser vices in his profession, as Mrs. Stewart and the family might require. The an swer did not rest with me-I felt it my privilege and happiness to consider the judgment of my brethren in the Mission, under God, the criterion of duty in every important measure, and I could therefore, at the time, only acknowledge myself fully sensible of the favour they were ready to confer on me.

A meeting of the members of the Mission then at Oahu, was immediately call ed, and the subject of our departure from the islands formally discussed, under two propositions. 1st. "Whether it was my duty, under the existing circumstances of my family, to return, at least for a time, to the United States?" and 2d. "If so, whether the kind offer of Capt. Dale, of a gratuitous passage to London should be accepted?" both of which were fully and unanimously decided in the affirmative. Thus, my dear friend, in one hour, as it were, light shone out of darkness, and a path of duty was clearly pointed out, which we could not doubt was of God, as it was entirely the result of dispensations in his wise and gracious Providence, which no device of man could have produced. It had long been our daily and unceasing prayer, to be permitted still to make known the unsearchable riches of Christ to the Gentiles, but if that happiness was to be denied us, to have the will of God so clearly revealed, that our duty should not admit of a question. This prayer seemed now to be answered:-if a shadow of doubt remained on my own mind, it originated in the possibility of Com. Hull's arrival in time to secure the end of our removal, when a still longer trial might have been made of its unavoidable necessity. But where the life of one, invaluable to myself and family, was at hazard, I did not feel at liberty to give up a certainty for an uncertainty, and thankfully accepted Capt. Dale's offer, and prepared to embark with him, at the end of eight days.

After the first emotions of a decision, to me so solemn and so momentous, my thoughts and my affections hurried to Maui-a spot, interesting above all others, to my heart. I could not think of leaving the islands without paying it the farewell visit at least of an hour. This, through the very great kindness of a prin. cipal mercantile house, at Oahu, I was enabled to make express, in one of their smaller vessels, under the command, for the occasion, of Mr. Elwell, of Boston, a gentleman connected with the establishment, to whom I have often been indebted for similar marks of friendship. We arrived at Lahaina at midnight, and as we had been delayed three days by head 2 T

winds, on a passage usually made, by such vessels, in one, and no time was to be lost, in despite of the great darkness of the night, and the danger of the surf, I landed immediately. The Mission House had been removed from the place of its original location, but familiarity with every spot, enabled me easily to grope my way through the luxuriant plantations by which it is now surrounded. But how great was my astonishment, at the peculiar circumstances in which I found our inestimable and beloved friends, Mr. and Mrs. Richards. Instead of being permitted, unobserved, to come to their very bedside with the salutations of friendship, and warm affection, as I had anticipated, how was I surprised to meet, at my first approach to the house, the presented bayonet, and to hear the stern challenge of the watchful sentry-" who goes there?" -and when assured that it was a friend, how inexplicable to my mind was the fact of receiving the cordial embraces of my brother, not in the peaceful cottage of the missionary, but in the midst of a garrison, apparently in momentary expectation of the attack of a foe, and to find the very couch, on which was reclining one, who to us has been most emphati. cally a sister, surrounded by the muskets and the spears of those, known to the world only by the name of savages!

My first thoughts were that a revolt of the island, against the general govern ment, had taken place, in which our friends had been seized, and were guarded as captives-or that some formidable party of unfriendly natives had risen with the determination of destroying them, but from whom they were protected by the higher chiefs-but as soon as an explanation could be given, I learned that their peril was from false brethren, if the outcasts of a civilized and Christian country can be designated by such terms.The seamen of a large ship, at anchor at Lahaina, exasperated at the restraints laid on their licentiousness, through the influence of the Mission, had carried their menaces and open acts of violence, against Mr. and Mrs. R., to such an extent, as to cause the chiefs to arm a body of men, and defend them at the hazard of life. At that very hour, three boats' crews, amounting to near forty men, were on shore, with the sworn purpose of firing their houses, and taking their lives!-But as every thing, when I left them, was in a posture to secure their entire safety, it is unnecessary to enter further into the particulars of the subject, except to say, that the statement of these circumstances from them, with the unfolding of the character and object of my visit, on mine, made our interview most deeply affecting; and the remainder of the night was spent in

thought and conversation, of unmingled sorrow at the termination which was about to take place, of that union and intercourse, which, for near three years, had been the source of some of our highest and sweetest enjoyment.

At sunrise Mr. Richards and myself visited the spacious and well built and finished chapel lately erected by the chiefs; and in the pulpit from which we had expected and fondly hoped jointly to proclaim the glad tidings of salva tion to the thousands of willing hearers under our common charge, we in tears and in prayer looked to God, the arbitrator of our destinies, for his presence and blessing on our future divided la bours in his cause. And in the course of an hour, after I had bid a hasty adieu to the chiefs and such of the people as were best known to me, we sorrowfully interchanged, perhaps, our last embraces in this world.

Never did the field of labour I had hoped to occupy for life, appear so truly desirable and I found my heart clinging closely to every object included in it, from my invaluable associates and the thousands eagerly desirous of my instructions and preaching, to the very trees and shrubbery I had planted and nurtured in our gardens. The dispensation of our removal seemed so mysterious, that added to the struggles of strong affection in my bosom, it filled me with sadness and gloom during our passage to Oahu, and before we came to an anchor, I had almost fully determined to permit the Fawn to depart without us, and venture a still further delay till the United States should arrive. How great then was my surprise and satisfaction to hear before landing, that there had been an arrival from South America, and that a packet from Com. Hull was waiting my return at the consulate. That gentleman could know nothing of my peculiar situation. Still I was persuaded that his communication would, in the providence of God, make my path plain, and remove every doubt then resting on it. And such was fully the case: for in the course of his letter, though utterly unaware of the importance of the information to me, he gave the most unqualified assurance that it would be impossible for him to make the proposed voyage to the Sandwich Islands. This was all that was necessary to render our duty clear as noonday, and we prepared cheerfully to follow the path we believed pointed out of God.

Thus, my dear friend, have I given the outline of the providences, both immediate and remote, which led to our embarkation for the United States:-An illness which proved itself unconquerable in a tropical climate, and threatened