truth in the remark, that "thwarted enthusiasm naturally generates impious petulance," and unwarranted expectations are succeeded by unreasonable murmurs; that the conduct of Oberlin cannot be safely recommended to general imitation. It seems to us, however, that neither the judgment nor the piety of the individual could be justly impeached, who should resolve to be guided by those "chances which Providence obey," in humble dependence upon an over-ruling Disposer of minutest events, provided, first, that the case should be one in which he is absolutely free to act as he chose, and secondly, that he is honestly prepared to abide the issue. A man who should refer to the decision of the lot, whether he should act right or wrong-commit or not commit an imprudent or doubtful action, would be guilty of something worse than fanatical weakness. But, in a man of prudence, firmness, and simplicity of purpose, like Oberlin, who never shrunk from duties the most arduous or perilous, this practice of submitting his choice to a decision beyond his control,-of making a perpetual sacrifice and abnegation of his own will,-if it was a weakness, was the weakness of a strong mind, an heroical extravagance; and we fear to stigmatise as enthusiasm, that which proceeded from so elevated a faith, and which was so conducive to his own serenity and happiness. We may smile at the mention of his Oui and Non tickets; but the state of ready acquiescence in the Divine will, in the commands of his Heavenly Master, of which they were the faithful symbols, is one of high and rare attainment. With regard to "the use of the Lot," the practice of Oberlin will be divested at least of its singularity, when it is recollected, that among the United Brethren, it forms a leading feature of their ecclesiastical system, to make use of this mode of appeal to Divine Provi dence. In a "Concise Account" of their Constitution, sold at all the Brethren's Chapels, we find the following statement of their tenets on this point: "§ 16. The Holy Scriptures, which as observed in § 7, are received by the United Brethren as the only rule of faith and practice, form also the chief ground upon which all decisions at the synods of the Brethren are founded. In deliberations that relate to Church-government and to the concerns of the Congregations of the Brethren and their members, the establishment of new Missions, and the like: the Brethren do not venture to act according to their own discernment only; but have agreed to spread before the Lord all matters of importance, the consequences of which they deem themselves incapable of foreseeing, imploring Him to make known unto them His Will, by the use of the Lot. Before this is used, all circumstances belonging to the subject under consideration, are carefully weighed. Moreover, it is a fundamental principle with the United Brethren, that the Lot is never to be used, in order to constrain any one against his own conviction in any thing; for instance, to undertake an office, a journey, a voyage, &c. Hence it appears clearly, that the use of the Lot in the Unity of the Brethren-which is not confined to Synods only, but takes place also in the consultations of the Elders' conferences of Congregations and Missions-is grounded, partly upon the acknowledgment of human insufficiency, even with the best intention, and partly on a filial confidence in the gracious condescension of our Lord Jesus Christ, in the leading of his people, combined with that fervent desire that His will only may be done." No words could more exactly describe the principles by which the conduct of Oberlin was regulated; no happier exemplification of those principles could be exhibited, than in his spirit and character. His favourite maxim, expressive of his meek dependence upon the Divine aid, was, "Rien sans Dieu;" [Nothing without God] while the moving principle of his exertions was indicated by his constant motto," Tout au Sauveur." [All to the Saviour.] "Nothing is difficult," he said to a minister who visited him a short time before his last illness," when we do it for Him.” Literary and Philosophical Intelligence, etc. Steam Conveyance.-A gentleman from India states, that a steamboat will leave Bombay for Suez about the middle of the present month, and it is expected that, by this conveyance, letters and passengers will reach England in eight weeks. As it is one of the objects of the Christian Advocate to repress all extravagance, we publish the following lines, intended to ridicule the notions entertained by many with regard to wonderful improvements contemplated, in the speed and convenience of steam carriages-An exquisite in London, just about to take dinner, is supposed to give the following orders to his servant Tell John to set the kettle on, I mean to take a drive; I only want to go to Rome, Tell cook to dress those humming-birds, They've now been killed at least two days, They'll be un peu trop haut. I'll try that wine, too, a la rose, Just brought from Ispahan; The trip I took the other day, To breakfast in the moon, For, steering through the Milky Way, Such fellows ought to keep below, And never venture there, My steam is surely up by now— Utility of Insects.-The honey of the bee, the dye of the cochineal, and the web of the silk worm, the advantages of which are obvious, may well be balanced against the destructive propensities of insects which are offensive to man. But a philosophical study of natural history will teach us, that the direct benefits which insects confer upon us are even less important than their general uses in main taining the economy of the world. The mischiefs resulting to us from the rapid increase and activity of insects, are merely results of the very principle by which they confer upon us numberless indirect advantages. Forests are swept away by minute flies; but the same agencies relieve us from that extreme abundance of vegetable matter, which would render the earth uninhabitable, were this excess not periodically destroyed. In hot countries, the great business of removing corrupt animal matter, which the vulture and hyena imperfectly perform, is effected with certainty and speed, by the myriads of insects that spring from the eggs deposited in every carcass, by some fly seeking therein the means of life for her progeny. Destruction and reproduction, the great laws of nature, are carried on very greatly through the instrumentality of insects; and the same principle regulates even the increase of particular species of insects themselves. Freezing Quicksilver.—It is stated by Professor Hudsteen, that, during his tour to Siberia, in the month of January last, finding the mercury in the two thermometers becoming stiff, he determined to expose a quantity of it to the full effect of the air. Accordingly, at night, he poured 3 lbs. into a basin, and set it out. The next morning, before 7 o'clock, it was frozen into a compact hard mass, which he could not loosen with his knife from the bottom of his basin! He cut it like lead; and, at first, as the knife came out of a warm room, the mercury was still rather fluid where it was cut! It is certainly no slight testimony to the enthusiasm with which in these days scientifick results are pursued, to state that in an atmosphere where mercury was thus frozen solid, the professor daily passed the hour after sunrise, in making ob. servations and experiments in the open air. All the brass screws, however, of his instruments were covered with leather, as the mere touch of the finger to the naked metal scorched like a red hot iron, and invariably left a blister behind. Amongst other extraordinary effects, it is calculated that the construction of railways, on all the principal roads of the kingdom, would enable this country to dispense with the use of a million of horses, thereby to save their food, which, being converted into corn, would supply three millions of men! Foreign supplies would, of course, then be unnecessary, at least for some years, perhaps for ages to come-Leeds Mercury. M. Flourens, a French Savant, having made many experiments on the influence which cold exercises on animals, has drawn from them the conclusion that exposure to prolonged cold is the most powerful of the causes which may induce pulmonary consumption; and that, on the contrary, living in a warm place, is so powerful a remedy against that disease, that it is of itself sufficient to cure it, in all cases where the evil has not reached its highest degree. Cultivation of Maize.-It is stated in the annals of the Horticultural Society of Paris, that the white maize of China, although it produces a smaller grain than the maize of Pennsylvania, which has been hitherto much cultivated in France, yields more abundantly, and gives a much finer flour. Some Chinese maize sown in the south of France, during the present year, is stated to have turned out very well, notwithstanding the badness of the season. M. Vauquelin, Deputy for the department of Calvados, Member of the Institute, Professor at the Garden of Plants, and one of the most distinguished chemists in France, died in November, at the age of 67 years. Thus the four most celebrated chemists in Europe, namely, Dr. Wollaston, Sir Humphrey Davy, M. Proust, and M. Vauquelin, have, within less than a year, been consigned to the tomb. It is stated in the newspapers, that an officer in the U. S. Army at the Saulte de St. Marie, has translated the greater portion of the Bible into the language of the Indians (Chippeways). The narrations in Genesis are said to have excited great interest among the Indians, from their striking accordance, in many particulars, with their own cherished traditions. Heligious Intelligence. FOREIGN. In selecting foreign intelligence of a religious kind, it will be our object, commonly, to communicate that which, while it is interesting or important in itself, is not as generally circulated as some other, in the religious periodicals of our country-The first two articles which follow are from the October number of the Christian Observer, and the other from the November number of the London Evangelical Magazine. The religious state of Ireland is one, which we know makes an appeal to the feelings of many of our readers. The language of the native Irish, preventing all possibility of addressing them advantageously in English, has heretofore almost wholly excluded them from communication with Protestants, on the subject of religion. But the Bible in their own tongue has recently, in spite of their popish priests, been distributed among them; and it appears that they are also likely, before long, to have protestant preaching in their vernacular language. The Christian ObVOL. VIII.-Ch. Adv. server says "The advantages to be derived from preaching to a people in their mother tongue, may be inferred from the following interesting particulars, related in a letter from an Irish clergyman in the county of Cork"— "I have merely given a brief and rapid sketch of my tour, which, although it presents much interesting matter, cannot convey any thing like an idea of the many causes for which I have reason to bless and praise God. I said that I am sure the poor Roman Catholick Irish are prepared to receive the truth as it is in Jesus; and to the former grounds upon which my persuasion was founded, I last night added the most delightful and convincing proof. I preached in Irish at N's church, in Bandon, to nearly one thousand peopleso crowded an audience I never saw, and never addressed: the church is small, and it was not only filled, but crammed-the people were raised upon each other's shoulders-they were in crowds in the in the passages, and, in fact, a greater door-way, outside the doors and windows, number could not be compressed together in a similar space: the calculation was, that the Roman Catholicks were to the Protestants in a ratio of three to one. under the pulpit, in the seats with the They surrounded the reading desk, were clergymen, and, in fact, occupying every inch of ground they could find: a more E attentive, impressed, and solemn congregation I believe was never addressed. They wept many of them. This is the finger of God, and the hand of God. We have (glory to His grace) a clear and open way to the people in this country. The Lord is owning the Irish Bible and the Irish preachers; and I do think that, in a very short time Christ will see of the travail of his soul in this country, and be satisfied." MOLUCCA AND MANILLA ISLAND MIS SIONS. So little is generally known respecting the religious wants of these islands, and the partial efforts which from time to time have been made for the conversion of the natives, that we extract from Shoberl's work on missions the following particulars for the information of our readers. "In the Molucca Islands, amounting to about one hundred, the present number of Christian inhabitants is computed at upwards of twenty thousand-a small number compared with the vast multitude who live in a state of moral darkness, under the brilliant sun of the Spice Islands. A laudable beginning has, however, been made by the Dutch to enlighten the minds of the natives. In Amboyna and Banda, British missionaries have been settled ever since the year 1814. They made it their first care to supply the place of teachers to the long neglected congregations, to which belonged about eighteen thousand Christians, and to procure for them Bibles in their native languages printed at Calcutta. In Amboyna itself a Bible Society has been formed for the circulation of the sacred scriptures, which in 1815 collected four thousand dollars for that purpose. There are also seminaries for training up young men schoolmasters for the neighbouring is lands, and as assistants to the missionaries as sent out by the Netherlands Missionary Society to Amboyna, Banda, Bouro, Celebes, Seram, Kaybobo, Ternate, and Ti mor; and a printing press has been established to facilitate their operations. The attention of that society begins also to be directed to some of those islands which are not subjects to the Netherlands government, and to which labourers will probably be despatched as soon as they can be spared." That Protestants should, at this time of day, persecute Protestants, and that this should be done in Switzerland, is equally astonishing and reproachful. But so it is; and it is the consequence of the wretched system of having the church united with the state. We have heretofore adverted to this persecution: and the following statement from the secretary of the London Board of Congregational Ministers, will show that the persecution continues in the Canton de Vaud, and has commenced with the greatest violence in that of Berne. PERSECUTIONS IN SWITZERLAND. The definitive sentence, after appeal, was pronounced, Aug. 19, upon M. Durand, the laborious and useful deacon of the dissenting church at Vevay, for having signed a letter of recommendation of M. Lenoir as a Christian brother and a preacher and upon M. Henri Olivier, pastor of the church at Lausanne, and M. Werly, a deacon of the church at Orbe, for having added a confirmatory postscript. The two former are condemned to one year's banishment; the last, to be confined six months within the boundaries of his commune, that is, the circle of authority of the local magistrate. M. Charles Rochat, being in England, has not been brought to trial; but, though the govern ment know where he is, they have grati fied their malice by advertising for his apprehension, by placards posted in the publick places, conjoining his name with that of a criminal who had fled from justice. The accusation against him is the same as that of M. Durand. The latter gentleman is a wine-merchant, in extensive business; and he was allowed three or four weeks for the arrangement of his affairs, previously to his quitting his coun try. M. H. Olivier has left the canton, and has made Geneva his abode for the present. The church at Vevay feels deeply the loss of its pastor and most active deacon; but the members persist in maintaining union and discipline, and in holding their meetings, in which suitable persons conduct the worship by prayer and reading. The arbitrary disposition of the Lausanne Council of State has been further manifested towards the two literary gentlemen mentioned in our last, who had been declared by the tribunals to have committed no offence. Yet the Council has imposed a fine (the amount not mentioned in our letters) upon Professor Vinet, for having published, without license from the censors of the press, his pamphlets in favour of liberty of conscience, entitled, "Observations upon an Article relative to the Secretaries, in the has decreed, in a secret sitting, BANISH- ness. As soon as the Committee of the London Board of Congregational Ministers shall have obtained sufficient information for regulating the distribution of the small fund in their hands, they will act upon it without delay. Oct. 17, 1829. DOMESTICK. J. PYE SMITH. On page 40 of our present number, our readers will see the plan which we have adopted, for giving them hereafter a full detail of the Missionary and Educational operations, of which the Boards appointed by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian church have, at present, the superintendance and di rection. These operations, so far In |