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Western Foreign Missionary Society," had obtained the possession and direction of all the incipient missionary establishments and operations of the Presbyterian church, which had for their object the evangelizing of the heathen: and in the mean time, the A. H. M. S. endeavoured to obtain a like ascendency in regard to domestic missions; and cotemporaneously with both, the American Education Society, sought to draw to itself the strength of our church, in aid of its operations. Our church, or rather a part of it, at length became alarmed, at seeing her very existence threatened, by taking from her the vital organs, on which her existence depends-for vital organs of any Christian church, Missionary and Educational institutions unquestionably are. Now the plea is, "divide your strength, and the general cause will prosper, better than if you lay it all out in support of your own operations." We do not believe in this doctrine-It seems to us a palpable absurdity. It cannot be sound doctrine, unless it be also true, that what we give to Voluntary Associations, will be better managed than if we kept it in our own hands, and managed it ourselves: and if they can manage a part better than we, then certainly they can do the same with the whole; and if this be so, then we say, give them the whole, and let our church have no more to do with Missions and Education. But Professor M. himself, is not prepared for this. Then we say, keep your means in your own hands. All you give, beyond what individuals may choose to bestow of their superfluity and liberality, is just so much taken from your own resources.

The Voluntary Associations are, at this moment, manifestly enfeebling our efforts. We especially want all our means, just at this time, to sustain our infant Foreign Missions; and, lo! the synods and presbyteries at the south, are organizing themselves in support of a Voluntary Missionary Society-an excellent one we grant, but one already wealthy and powerful. Is this right? Is this acting as avowed Presbyterians ought to act? So it does not seem to us. Will it be said that many will give to Voluntary Associations, who will not give to our own Boards? Yes, and the whole strength of Professor M.'s plea, lies exactly in this very point. And why is this the fact? It is so, because such pleas as the professor has made, have been, and still are, urged by such men as the professor ranks with-by men of talents, influence, and station. Only let them change the direction in which their eloquence, and their entire influence shall be exercised, and employ them to persuade the members of the Presbyterian church to fall into the ranks of the ecclesiastical Missionary and Educational Organizations. of their own creation-organizations demonstrated by the professor himself, to be superior, in several particulars, to any Voluntary Associations-let this be done-let us act like Presbyterians-and it will not long be true that many members of our church will prefer foreign organizations to their own. This whole church, which is now pretty thoroughly roused to a sense of its duty to promote Missions and Education in some way, will be seen, rallying its undivided force under its own standards. Then will divided councils in a great measure cease; and we solemnly believe that more, far more good will be done, than ever can be done, while the existing collision and competition shall continue, and the very being of the Presbyterian church, in any thing but in name, shall be kept in jeopardy, by the existence, in her very midst, of organized bodies alien to her government and order.

Literary and Philosophical Entelligence, etc.

Mehemet Pacha.-The Vice Roy of Egypt, Mehemet Pacha, may now be considered as one of the most powerful princes of the East. His dissatisfaction, and that of his son Ibrahim, without the aid of any other power, would have caused the Sultan to totter on his throne. Mehemet may yet become the founder of an empire-at all events he may justly be regarded as one of the most remarkable men of the age. The following description of Mehemet, is condensed from an account of him in Dr. Ehrenberg's Travels in North Africa, in 1820.

With regard to the exterior of the Pacha, it is imposing, by its vivacity, to the Orientals, but not to Europeans. His well proportioned stature, of middle size, betrays its Albanian origin, by the small face; the Turks having generally a large head, and a long physiognomy. The Pacha has none of the Turkish phlegm in his appearance, and he possesses a remarkable sprightliness, although it does not so readily strike the Europeans, on account of his oriental dress and manners. He was born in 1767, at Cavala, near the coast of the Greek Archipelago, in the ancient Macedonia. His father, Ibrahim Aga, was head of the police of the town. The son was fond of military life, but carried on for some time the trade of a tobacconist. At the time of the French expedition to Egypt, he came with the Turkish troops to Africa, and was finally appointed the Chief of his countrymen, the Albanians. He was never scrupulous about his means, and never sincere in any agreement with his adversaries; neither was he noted for his harshness, injustice, or cruelty towards the lower classes. Since 1804, he has become master of all Egypt, when, after the Albanians had taken possession of Cahira, he was recognised by the government at Constantinople. He neither opposes nor favours the efforts of the Christian missionaries for the conversion of Jews, and is himself but an indifferent Mahometan, although he has built several mosques at his own expense. The nature of his administration may best be understood, from the answer a Fellah (peasant) gave to Dr. Ehrenberg, who had remarked that the people ought to be satisfied with the Pacha, since he had made the country a garden, and built towers in all their villages. "Allah Kerihm!" retorted the Arab; "God is great. Our master (the Effendina) giveth with one hand, and taketh with two!"

Silliman's Journal contains two articles on the subject of the late meteorological phenomenon, observed throughout the con

tinent on the 13th of November, one by Professor Hitchcock, of Amhert College, the other by Professor Olmstead, of Yale College. Professor Hitchcock, refers the phenomena to the same origin as that of the Aurora borealis. In support of his hypothesis, he brings to view the relation which the Aurora borealis and the phenomena of the shooting stars, are both supposed to have exhibited to the direction of the magnetic needle. On this point he mainly builds his theory:

"May we not then be permitted on the principles of a rational philosophy, to regard the splendid meteoric phenomenon which we have recently seen, as a mere modification of the Aurora borealis: or rather, might it not be appropriately styled Aurora australis; and can we hesitate to regard it as an electro-magnetic phenomenon, aided perhaps by phosphorescent and inflammable gasses? Such a view of the subject would certainly tend to remove every superstitious fear that may have arisen in my mind, and lead every one, who had the privilege of witnessing the spectacle, to feel thankful that an experiment so beautiful and magnificent, should have been performed within the lofty and transparent dome of nature's temple, by the display of her hidden energies. It is too rich an exhibition to be repeated to the same generation."

Professor Olmstead's article, though occupying 48 pages, is unfinished in the present number. From the facts which he has taken great pains to collect, and the heads under which he has arranged his subject, he probably refers the magnificent spectacle to the principles of electricity.

Value of the Precious Metals.-There are about five hundred towns or principal places in Mexico, celebrated for the exploration of silver that surround them. These five hundred places comprehend together about three hundred mines. The whole number of veins and masses in the exploration, is between four and five thou sand. The ore is generally in veins, rarely in beds and masses. The vein of Guanaxuato, is the most extensive. It is from 120 to 150 feet thick, and is explored in different places for a distance of nine miles. The quantity of silver in the ores, averages from three to four ounces the quintal, or from 1-448th to 1-597th of the weight of ore. The annual produce of silver in Mexico, during the last years of the seventeenth century, was 1,134,424 pounds. Silliman's American Journal of

Science.

A prevailing notion among many persons who have not turned their attention

to the subject, is, that the gold and silver of this continent is more valuable than any other products of the country.

The produce of all the mines of America, 25 years ago, never came up to the value of the present crop of cotton, and their produce at this time is not half the value of our four hundred million pounds of cotton, when delivered in Europe, or even at the ports of shipment. Now, the iron of England in its raw state, is actually worth more than the entire products of the gold and silver mines of America. The annual amount of the straw hats of New England, is even worth as much, or more than the annual products of the much talked of gold mines of the Southerm States.-Boston Atlas.

The Scorpion-Pananti states, in his account of Algiers, that the natives frequently amuse themselves by a curious kind of warfare, which is created by shutting up a scorpion and a rat together in a close cage, when a terrible contest ensues, which has been known to continue some

times for an hour. It generally ends by the death of the scorpion; but in a little time after, the rat begins to swell, and in violent convulsions soon shares the fate of his vanquished enemy. It is also a favourite diversion of the Moors to surround one of these reptiles with a circle of straw, to which fire is applied; after making several attempts to pass the flames, it turns on itself, and thus becomes its own executioner. The trait last named, came under the personal observation of a friend of ours in the navy.-Boston Journal.

Savings Banks-The credit of having projected Savings Banks has been various ly claimed for different persons in Great Britain, and their origin has been traced to different places in that country. The best authenticated statement we have seen

gives the first suggestion of the system called Frugality Banks' which was promulgated, about the year 1797, and was from time to time pressed upon the attention of leading politicians and practical men in England, and rejected as visionary. In 1811, it was printed with other works,

and laid on the table of the house of com

mons. Subsequently, Savings Bankswhich were founded on part of the plan of Bentham's Frugality Banks-were carried through parliament by the influence of the well known member, George Rose, Esq. who has been claimed as the author of the sym. The English system is much more extensive than ours. Besides the usual simple accumulations, it adds the conversion of deposites into annuities and endowments, a part of the business which might be advantageously engrafted on some of our own institutions of the kind. The amount invested in this way in England, is not less than 16,000,000 sterling.

Curious Anecdote of the Heart. Since the statement recently made respecting the insensibility of the human heart to external touch, we have met, in an old Edinburgh Medical Journal, with the following case:-A buck that was remarkably fat and healthy in condition, in August, 1816, was killed in Bradbury Park, and on opening him it was discovered that, at some distant time, he had been shot in the heart, a bali being found in a cyst in the substance of the viscus, about two inches from the apex. The surface of the cyst had a whitish appearance. The ball weighs 292 grains, and was quite flat. Mr. Richardson, the park keeper, who opened the animal, was of opinion that the ball had struck some hard substance before entering the body of the deer. That the animal should subsist long after receiving this ball, is endeavoured to be accounted for from the instance of a soldier, who survived 49 hours after receiving a bayonet wound in the heart; however, the recovery from a gun-shot wound in an animal inferior to man can, in no respect, materially alter the importance of the fact, and of the great extent to which this vital organ may sustain an injury from external violence.

Earthquake.-About half past 10 o'clock, on Wednesday night last, we had something like the shock of an earthquake, attended with a considerable noise. The shaking of the houses was such, as in some instances, to extinguish lamps, and the people generally were so alarmed as to rush to the windows, or into the streets. It did not exactly resemble former shocks of earthquakes which we have felt and heard, and we should be rather inclined to attribute it to the explosion of a quantity of gunpowder, were we aware that there was a sufficient quantity to produce the effect within the necessary distance.-Lancaster Jour. Feb. 7.

There is in the library of a gentleman of New Haven, Connecticut, eight volumes of the "Mercurie," the first newspaper ever established; comprising part of the reign of James 1st, Charles the first, and the Commonwealth under the protection of Cromwell and his son Richard. The size of the paper is three inches wide by seven long, and abounds with quaint sayings and singular notices.

New-Haven, Connecticut, Feb. 20, 1834.

The Season.-Never within our recollection has there been so mild a winter as the present. We have had hardly any snow, -not two inches at any time, no severe storms, and generally a temperate atmosphere. The last few days have borne all the attributes of early spring, a bright sun, a soft and balmy air,-with the song and flight of birds, as if April was anticipated. A flock of blackbirds was observed this morning passing over the city.

Religious Entelligence.

THE MORAL CONDITION AND INFLUENCE OF PARIS. This is the title of the concluding article of Religious Intelligence, in the "Supplement" to the "London Evangelical Magazine, for the year 1833;" and we assign to it the whole of this department of our Miscellany for the present month. In our judgment, no portion of the population of the whole earth more urgently needs the influence of the gospel, than the inhabitants of France. It is this influence, and this only, which can ever give them stable and permanent liberty and order in their political institutions, as well as prepare them for the infinitely more important felicities of eternity. Of this, the best men in France itself appear now to be sensible; and they deserve the deep sympathy of all who know by their own happy experience, what the blessed influence of the pure gospel is. Much of the concluding part of the following article, although addressed to British Protestants, is applica ble to Protestants of the United States-We can, and we ought, to help our brethren of France, not only by our prayers, but by sending them Bibles and tracts; and if we need, as we certainly do, a warning to beware of the progress and influence of Popery, nothing can be more instructive than an attentive consideration of the moral condition of France, which Popery, as the ultimate cause, has unquestionably produced.

In approaching a great city, it is not uninteresting to speculate on the predominant thoughts and feelings of the multitudes who, from every point, converge towards it. To guess at the idea which governs the crowds who conduct thither the products of their fields, and gardens, and manufactories, is sufficiently easy. Nor is it difficult to place yourself, by an effort of memory, in the condition of the child, whose eager gaze is, for the first time, rivetted by the towers and spires which announce the metropolis of his country. Thither hurries the statesman to sustain his wavering, or to impel his victorious party; the artist to refine his taste, by the imitation of the master-pieces of genius; and the student to explore, with youthful enthusiasm, the unknown depths of literature and of science. Dissipation owns its votaries, and vice its ministers,—all pressing towards the same point, as the focus in which kindred minds are to concentrate their thoughts, and passions, and deeds. But, amidst the mass, how few are to be found who, steadily contemplating the example of Him" who went about doing good," ever esteem sensitive, intelligent, immortal man as far more interesting than his noblest works and the wants and miseries of his spirit as the most afflictive aspect of his wo! Nor will the writer, through whose mind the preceding obvious thoughts passed as he approached, for the first time, the metropolis of France, arrogate to himself a measure of these hallowed sentiments at all commensurate with the moral importance, and moral wretchedness, of that splendid city. He will only say, that at such a state of mind he feebly aimed, and that, although providentially removed from the spot where these emotions were awakened, he earnestly desires still to cherish, and, by intercourse with kindred minds, to multiply, their impression.

The moral condition of Paris is, therefore, the topic to which the attention of the reader is primarily invited. A brief sojourn within the walls of this interesting city, under circumstances unfavourable to extensive observation, will only justify a rapid sketch of this affecting subject. A Christian whose residence has been fixed in Paris, during several years, could unfold a tale of sinfulness far more harrowing; and a vicious individual witnesses there, in a single hour, scenes which the man of moral habits, during a protracted life, only suspects. But, ah! what "hidden things of darkness," both in the haunts of vice, and in the recesses of the human heart, are visible to the Omniscient! The full revelation of iniquity, as of holiness, is reserved for the tribunal of God. And, it is granted, that, as the prospect of every created eye is limited, we may deem a city better than it is, because vice is artful; or worse, because virtue is retiring. But there are some broad features of sin which, whatever may be thought of the minor peculiarities of moral physiognomy, reveal, with awful distinctness, the animating spirit of iniquity. Let us glance at these.

Among the indications of a sad proficiency in impiety, no fact more powerfully impresses the Christian visiter of Paris, than that flagrant violation of the Sabbath which obtrudes itself on his notice. As soon as he awakes, and the thought, this is the Sabbath, occurs to his mind, the clamour and the hum of trade which burst upon his ear, induce a doubt as to the correctness of his impression. On going abroad, he finds, perhaps, a quarter of the shops closed, while another fourth, partly shut, exhibit some recognition of the day of rest. In these latter, nevertheless, business is transacted, and the remaining half, at least, present not even an external acknowledgment of the existence of the Sabbath. The markets are open. Labourers, optionally, pursue or abandon their occupations. As the day advances, almost every shop is closed; business has ceased, to give place to dissipation. The royal gardens are crowded; the Champs Elysées are thronged by the dense population of Paris, in pursuit of frivolous amusement; and, in the suburban villages of this immense city, you may witness, every Sabbath, numerous assemblages enjoying the silly dissipations of an English pleasure fair, with all the eager volatility of the Parisian character. Sunday, too, is the day on which the neighbouring towns celebrate the annual fêtes of their patron saints, and attract a large portion of the inhabitants of the metropolis. Then, rustic sports, shooting matches, dances, and joutes (a species of tournament on the water,) are the elements of Sabbath occupation. These joûtes are also, sometimes exhibited on the Sunday, at Paris, on the Seine. At other times, horse-races are contested in the Champ de Mars. In the evening, the theatres are universally open, and attract far more numerous assemblies than the churches in the morning. Nor is this desecration of the sacred day confined to the less intelligent classes. Science and art claim the Sabbath as their own. Then, and then only, the museums of painting and sculpture are visible by the public. Then the Professor of Geology conducts his pupils to the country, to collect specimens, and the Lecturer on botany leads forth his class to herborise. Sunday, in short, is the universal holiday. Nor can it be needful to suggest to a pious mind, the connexion of this desecration of the day of God, with the progress of all iniquity. It is at once the effect of irreligion and its cause; nor is it possible to trace all the ramifications of sin which the certain reaction of Sabbath violation, at once habitual and universal, produces.

Another marked feature of the Parisian population, is its passion for gaming. The houses where this ruinous system is pursued, are licensed by the government; and their number is truly immense. Billiard-tables, cards, dominos, meet your eye continually. The government lottery-offices are scattered over the whole city; while multiplied games of chance, of the more vulgar kind, incessantly present their attractions to the labouring classes, and educate the youthful population in the habit of gambling. This attachment to play is so inveterate, that gaming may be considered one of the necessaries of life to a Parisian: so much so, that in a table of the annual expenses of the city of Paris, recently published, the items, "lottery, 25 millions of francs" (about a million sterling), and "gambling 24 millions of francs" follow, as matters of course, the more obvious particulars of ordinary expenditure. Can it be necessary to indicate the reckless selfishness which such a system must cherish, or to trace the personal and social misery, which, frequently conducting to suicide, is its unavoidable result?

There is yet another prominent aspect of society in Paris, which, although most important in its moral relations, cannot be fully developed to the public eye-I mean its abandoned profligacy. The exterior symptoms of general laxity of morals may not be more obtrusive than in other large cities; but facts which reach you in your daily observation, as the prevalent characteristics of the literature, engravings, and sculptures of the capital, or in your daily intercourse, as, for instance, the large proportion of wives abandoned by their husbands, with still more afflictive but unutterable circumstances, convey to the mind, without the possibility of mistake, the awful truth. And, not to rest in vague and general impressions, which may vary in the experience of every individual, let us appeal to the moral statistics of the city which occupies our attention. In 1828-and the proportions have not since materially varied-29,806 children were born in Paris. Of these, 10,392 were illegitimate, and of these unhappy innocents, 8,084 were abandoned by their parents to the heartless support of public charity. Let any reflecting Christian dwell on the fact, that of every three children born in Paris, one at least is destitute of the attentions which the sacredness of the marriage bond secures; let him remember, how small a portion of existing profligacy is revealed by this statement, appalling as it is, and he will seem to stand on the heights that overlooked Gomorrha, and to see the heavens blackening, and flashing with the coming storm of fire.

But here, I anticipate an objection which, although it could not, if established, destroy the facts to which we have adverted, might still, if not noticed, annihilate their com parative impression. Some may be disposed to say, but is not the moral condition of London equally distressing? That the masses of vice which exist in London are truly Ch. Adv.-VOL. XII. S

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