visited the Bissão river, also the river and settlement of Cacheo. Lieutenant Hagan, received in the latter place, a full corroboration of the information he before obtained of the trade in slaves being still carried on in that settlement.

"Lieutenant Hagan describes the town of Cacheo as the most wretched slave-factory he ever witnessed. The low, damp, and confined cells for the slaves, were loathsome in the extreme, many of them being below the high-tide mark of the river. The block-house, or, as it is called, the fort, is in a most wretched state of decay; one gun only is mounted, the others being dismounted with a log of wood under the muzzle. The swamps and stagnant pools immediately in rear of the town, render Cacheo assuredly the most unhealthy place that can be imagined; but this is not sufficient to deter the slave-traders, who generally lose one half of their crews, frequently all their Europeans.

"Lieutenant Hagan was not able to procure any stock, although it was in the town in great abundance: he was even refused a pilot to take him out-the greatest jealousy appearing to prevail from a visit as unexpected as it was unwelcome. The Thistle, however, by keeping the boats ahead and other precautions, found no difficulty in the navigation.

"The officers composing the garrison of this place (Cacheo) are all blacks, and mulattoes, with the exception of the governor, J. Antonio Gomez, and another officer: a creole Portuguese of the Cape de Verd Islands, did not attempt to conceal that a brisk trade in slaves was still carried on there, as well as at Bissão; and boasted, that had the Thistle found the two vessels already named, she might probably have changed masters; one being armed with sixteen, the other with eleven guns.

The

return of these vessels, as well as others, is spoken of as a matter of course in the present season; and, as far as Lieutenant Hagan could judge from the number of slaves seen in the place, they will not be long in completing their cargoes of unfortunate human victims."

Portuguese Brig the Commerciante.

"H. M. S. Driver, Captain Woolrige, returned to this harbour, from a successful cruise to leeward, having captured, in addition to the Spanish schooner described in our last, a Portuguese brig in the river. Cameroons, on the 7th ultimo, with one hundred and seventy-nine slaves. An English merchant-ship communicated the information at sea: the Driver anchored off the mouth of the river, and the following morning, as the boats got in sight of the slave-vessel, a great many canoes were seen about her: as the boats approached nearer, it was perceived that they were making every effort in landing the slaves; and when the last load left, the boats were actually within pistol-shot of the vessel. Lieutenant King, who commanded the boats, explained to the chiefs the impropriety of assisting to land the slaves; adding, that as they were removed from the vessel in sight of His Majesty's boats, they must be returned to her. This they complied with most readily; indeed, in half an hour, the same canoes which had been employed in landing them, put the whole on board. Thus one hundred and seventy-nine slaves, chiefly females, were, under divine Providence, rescued from the galling iron grasp of the unfeeling and merciless slave-dealer. The slaves were remarkably healthy, and, as soon as they understood the cause of their seizure and liberation, they fell on their faces, approached the feet of the officers of the Driver, making every demonstration of joy and satisfaction."

FOR Some time past, considerable alarm has been excited for the safety of Mr. Wolff. Those fears, we are thankful to say, have been removed by the receipt of a letter. The account which it contains of his providential deliverance, shows that the apprehensions were not altogether unfounded. We commend it to the perusal of our readers, assured that it cannot fail to excite at once their sympathy and their gratitude.

"I left Aleppo on the 3d of August, and arrived again at Antioch on the 5th, where I stopped till the 11th of August. John Barker, Esq. British Consul-general of Aleppo, who was just there with his amiable family, told me that the Ansari, idolaters, as they are supposed to be, are continuing to read the New Testaments I pre

sented to them. I distributed again some New Testaments in Persian and Arabic, left Antioch the 12th of August, and arrived in the village Jesia, near Lattachia. The beat induced me to the determination to sleep in the open field rather than accept the kind offer of Mahomed Agha, one of the Shechs of the Ansari, who invited me to sleep in his house, which was built of stone; and thus it was thy will, O Lord; blessed be thy name, Jesus Christ! possessed of glory and honour. As I firmly insisted to remain with my servant in the open field, the Shechs and all the other inhabitants of that village came to talk with me in Arabic; I told them that their brethren in Antiochia have accepted copies of the Gospel, and are reading them with anxiety. The Shech Mahomed Agha desired me to give

to him likewise some copies, and I promised to comply with his wish next morning after my arrival in Lattachia; and thus we sat very comfortably together on the ground, drinking milk and smoking the pipe, and conversing; it was a great wind-calm at nine o'clock; and twenty minutes after, that very evening, "the Lord looked upon the earth, and it trembled!" A terrible shock, first horizontal, and thirty-six vertical ones, accompanied by a noise like the thunder of cannons, proceeded out from the earth. I prayed, crying to Jesus my Lord, and the Ansari exclaimed, Merciful Lord! merciful Lord!' We first stood still upon one place, but we feared to stand still; we leaped about, and we feared to leap about; for the earth threatened every where to open ber month, and swallow us up. The falling of houses, the shrieks and lamentations of dying women and babes, who were plunged in a time of sixty seconds into an awful eternity, produced in us all the firm belief, that the judgment-day of the Lord is now coming! Mahomed Agha exclaimed, This is of the Lord!" The observation of that Ansari makes me believe that that sect are not idolaters, for I cannot suppose that such an observation, in such a terrible moment, could be hypocrisy. I felt then more than ever the force of the passage in the sacred writ, saying, 'Ye mountains, fall on us; ye hills, cover us!" I can say, that I was the instrument, in the Lord's hand, of saving the lives of many persons; for if I had accepted the offer of the Shech, and had entered their houses, we all were become victims of the terrible earthquake. The earthquake was, after the terrible shocks, felt repeatedly every hour two and three, and often four times, through the whole night! I went the next day to Lattachia, but perceived that all the inhabitants were out of town, in the open field, having left behind their property, which was buried under the ruins of their houses. I saw many naked, they went not back to take their clothes; and I saw sucking children fainting away. 'Woe unto them that were with child, and to them that gave suck in that day!' I went first to see the Franks of that town, and then the Greeks; they were all with pale faces, and with tears in their eyes; and those who received me on my first arrival at Lattachia with kind countenances, have been so taken up with sorrows, heaviness, and terrors, that the mother did not mind the cries of her babes! One hundred and fifty houses have been utterly destroyed, and some hundreds of persons lost their lives. It did not cost me much pain to induce as well Catholics as Greeks, to kneel down with me, and to pray to our Lord Jesus Christ. Even those prayed, who, in the time of peace and ease, almost the Saviour's benefits began unfaithfully to deny;

but earthquakes often interrupted our prayers! I sent immediately several expresses to Antiochia, which cost me together eleven dollars, to learn what had become of Mr. John Barker and his family, for the news was arrived at Lattachia, that Antiochia, Swedia, Scanderoon, and Aleppo, had been utterly destroyed; and this news has been true. I received answers from John Barker, Esq. and at the same time an express arrived which was sent to me by Benjamin Barker, Esq. John Barker, Esq. his wife, and little girl, Benja-' min Barker, Esq. and all the European' Christians of Aleppo have been saved by the grace of the Lord! John Barker, Esq. was just going to bed when the shock took place; the wall of the room, and the stairs, all gave way in a moment, and John Barker, Esq. and his wife, were precipitated on the ground, and buried under the ruins, and thus carried out safely, only with some trifling scratches. Benjamin Barker, Esq. has been seriously wounded, but is now cured-but all the towns, villages, and cottages, twenty leagues around Aleppo, have been utterly destroyed; 40,000 of our fellow-creatures have lost their lives. The Jew Esdra de Picciotto, the Austrian Consul-general, lost his life, and was buried under his sixteen slain horses. At Aleppo, are 25,000 souls buried under dead horses, cats, and dogs! There have been 3000 Jews at Aleppo; 2500 of them became victims of the earthquake. their ancient synagogues, from the time of the second temple, bave been utterly destroyed! Not one single house at Aleppo remained whole! Spirits of those rabbies! when I told you that Jesus was the Son of God, you exclaimed, We have neither seen nor heard it! Spirits of those rabbies, it seems to me, that you are now standing before me, and it seems to me that I hear you exclaiming, We do now see it-we do now hear it that Jesus is the Son of God!'Many of those children who were designed to be sent to that my projected college, are now in another college-in the college of the other world!

me!

"Dear friends, I beseech you weep with For many children died after the earthquake. I sat the 20th of August on the ground in the garden of the Greeks, and wrote a letter, -a terrible earthquake took place again! and lamentation of children and women, and young and old men! Thou, O Lord, let us never forget, that thou dost neither slumber nor sleep! Some days before my departure from Lattachia, a caravan of Turks arrived from Aleppo. I met them in the field. They were soldiers, Turkish sol diers. They asked me: 'Are you in peace?'

"I. In peace, praise be unto God, the Lord of the worlds!

"Turks, Aleppo is gone, Aleppo is no

more! And saying this, they began to beat their breast, and they lifted up their voice, and cried and wept, and exclaimed, This was of the Lord, this was of the Lord!'

"I desired Musa Elias, the British Agent of Lattachia, to furnish me with some copies of the Arabic New Testament, to distribute them among the poor and afflicted, SUNDAY

THE following extract from a monthly paper of the Irish Sunday School Union, is deserving of serious attention from every benevolent, supporter of those valuable institutions.

"Belfast, County of Antrim, November 1822.

"Having carefully examined our roll books, and struck off a number which were not attending, still you will perceive by the annexed statement, that we have a great increase of numbers, which we attribute partly to the situation of the school being more public and central, as well as more comfortable, and partly to frequent visiting of the streets and lanes in the neighbourhood of the school, to ascertain if

but the whole stock has been buried under the ruins of his magazine, and nobody yet dares to enter the town to excavate their

buried property. Poor Musa Elias, and many of the Europeans, have lost all their property. Shocks have been heard four and five times through forty days. What an awful instance of the power of God!"

there were many children who were not attending Sunday schools (which num-. ber we found to be far greater than we expected). In consequence of the influx thus occasioned, many of whom were as. unaccustomed to restraint as their minds, were to application, a considerable time elapsed without much apparent improvement: but we still laboured on in hope, and we have now cause to be thankful to the Author of every good gift, for the improvement and reformation that have already appeared. There is also a visible revival, we trust, of the true spirit of Sunday school instruction among the teachers, evinced by their increasing regularity and attention to the children."

NEW ZEALAND MISSION.

We are happy to state, that the fears entertained that the missionaries were compelled to quit the island, have proved to be groundless. The information of four arriving at Sidney is, however, substantially true; two of whom left New Zealand on the Society's business, and two on their own concerns. As, however, one of these has left on a voyage of matrimony, with the intention of returning to the Bay of Islands shortly, it is obvious there is no apprehension of personal danger. But, alas! the unholy conduct of one of whom

better things were hoped, has lamentably damped the present prospects of usefulness. We trust, that God will hear the prayers of his servants, and that the generous and expensive efforts made for the conversion of this noble race will not be in vain. There is, however, need of prayer, of patience, and persevering continuance in well-doing. "The husbandman hath long patience before he receive the precious fruits of the earth; be ye therefore patient; stablish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh."

We are happy to understand, that several pious and distinguished individuals are using every exertion to promote the hallowing of the Lord's day. Many of the poorer tradesmen in various businesses have been induced to violate the laws of God and of their country under an idea, that if they refused to sell, others would succeed in obtaining their customers; and, on the other hand, many respectable persons, desirous of dealing only with those like-minded with themselves, have been defeated in their efforts by the difficulty of discovering tradesmen who were not guilty of violating the Sunday in selling or sending home articles on that day. To obviate this difficulty, we understand a list is preparing of persons in various trades who have pledged themselves not to sell, or allow to be sold or sent home from their premises on the Lord's day, any of the articles in which they deal. We trust this measure will be productive of

great effect. It seems at first a trifling thing to allow a laundress to send home clothes, or a shoemaker shoes, on a Lord's day morning; but all sinful practices begin with trifling things. The laundress acquires the habit of finishing her linen on the Sunday morning; the shoemaker's boy is taught, in his early and best days, to neglect the ordinances of God's house; and thus impiety, infidelity, and irreligion prevail. Grave divines, and learned lawyers, and professing Christians, are astonished at the progress of infidelity, and attempt to put that down by a few harsh laws or penny tracts, which they have been countenancing and encouraging by their example, their cowardice, or their supineness for a series of years. Let but individual Christians once act a decided part, and the very persons who object to their measures will soon most cordially approve. We hope shortly to be able to resume this subject.