enclosure of the church, it is equally your duty to come with deliberation and prayer, after having carefully counted the cost; for a christian profession places you instantly on an eminence; all that you do from the hour of your making it, is judged by a different standard; and your errors may stab the cause till it bleeds to the very quick. Thousands of professors do dishonor the cause; and unless you are upheld by the almighty grace of God, what better can you expect than that you too will be marked as a backslider or even an apostate?

But perhaps some one will say, "then I will not run the hazard of joining the church." But stop, my friend, weigh that matter well before you come to such a conclusion. It is not at your option whether to join the church or not. Christ has decided that you must come, and if you do not, you disobey his plain command; and in doing that, how can you expect either to be useful or happy? Yes, there is no alternative left for you unless you will run the hazard of setting at naught his dying injunction, but that you must confess him before the world, and you must live agreeably to your profession. This is the only path which he marks out for you; if you turn to the right or the left, you are on forbidden ground. But do you not ask what security you can have, that you shall not dishonor your Master's cause? We answer, every security you need in the promise of divine grace. "My grace is sufficient for thee," coming from the throne of heaven, is answer enough to every doubt or apprehension that may rise in your breast. Casting yourself on that grace, we say again, obey the Savior's command and come.

ART. VII.-REVIEW OF A VISIT TO THE SOUTH SEAS, &c. A visit to the South Seas, in the U. S. Ship Vincennes, during the years 1829 and 1830; exhibiting the present state, civil and religious, of the Washington or Northern Marquesan, the Georgian, Society, and Sandwich Islands, with scenes in Brazil, Peru, Canton, Manilla, the Cape of Good Hope, and St. Helena. By C. S. STEWART, A. M. Chaplain in the United States' Navy, and author of A Residence in the Sandwich Islands in 1823-1825.

WHEN Xenophon wrote the history of the life and actions of the eastern monarch, he delineated, not the character of Cyrus as it actually was, but such a character, as in his own view, became a wise and virtuous prince. Too many of our modern journalists, in reporting to those at home what they have seen abroad, have proceeded upon a principle very similar to that of the Greek historian. Instead of exhibiting a faithful transcript of what they actually saw, they seem in many instances to have labored chiefly to work up the picture to a correspondence with what they had previously

imagined; or at any rate to throw over it an air of novelty and a vividness of coloring, which would be likely to render it attractive Of course where this has been the case, they have given us fancy sketches, in place of correct accounts of the men, manners, and scenery which they have pretended to describe.

The work before us, is not, we have reason to believe, of this description. Our readers will recognize in its author, the Rev. C. S. Stewart, one of the band of missionaries, which in 1822 embarked at New-Haven for the Sandwich Islands. Mr. Stewart after three years of labor was compelled, in consequence of the ill health of Mrs. S. to relinquish that interesting field, and return to his native land. The journal, with which the christian public were subsequently favored, of his outward passage and his residence at the islands, has been extensively circulated both in this country and in England, and admired no less for the accuracy of its details, than for the liveliness and beauty of its manner. The present work is at least equal in variety and interest; and we have the testimony of other gentlemen belonging to the Vincennes, to the uncommon fidelity of its representations.

The "Visit to the South Seas" was made by Mr. Stewart as chaplain in the naval service of the United States. His book, though still retaining the form of familiar letters in which it was originally written, is a regular and copious journal of the cruise. We shall lay before our readers in a general sketch the principal incidents which it presents; dwelling occasionally on such, as from their character or bearing may seem to be of peculiar interest or importance.

The Guerriere, in which Mr. Stewart left this country, was commanded by Com. Thompson, and sailed from the Chesapeake on the 14th of Feb. 1829. Her orders were, touching first at Rio de Janeiro, to proceed to the western coast of South America, for the purpose of relieving the squadron upon that station, one of which was the Vincennes ; and to return home by the way of the islands of the Pacific, Canton, and the Cape of Good Hope. Our author thus describes the commencement of the voyage.

Our noble ship looked like some" living thing," conscious of the power and majesty with which she rested on her wings, in this act of condescension and kindness. The St. Louis, a bright and beautiful vessel close in our wake, was in a similar manner discharging her temporary guide; while the white sand bluff forming Cape Henry, surmounted with its lighthouse, and flanked on either side by a stretch of low, cedar covered shore -with the belleying sails of a coaster here and there gleaming brightly in the morning sun made up the sketch. There was scarce time, however, for the eye to glance on its different objects, before the landsmen in their bark, with kind tossings of the hat and hand, were hastening to their homes, and the frigate and her consort with squared yards, were heaping sail upon sail to catch all the freshness of the breeze now bearing us far away.

At 11 o'clock with a strong northwester and an unclouded sky, we took our departure from Cape Henry, the light-house due west twelve miles. Shortly afterwards we lost sight of it, the few stretches of coast still looming here and there in the distance, appearing only like lines of haze on the horizon, and quickly becoming, as the ship rose and fell with the swellings of the deep, entirely indistinguishable from the distant heavings of the sea.

I bave, more than once, known what it is to see a friend of the heart hurried away upon the ocean to distant and uncertain scenes; but now, for the first time, felt what it was to be myself the wanderer, lanching forth comparatively alone, while all most dear were far behind. I recollect in one of the former instances, to have watched the receding sail till reduced to a wavering and almost invisible speck on the horizon; and in another, I lost sight of her, while yet a tall spire on the water, in the haze of approaching night; and in a third, beheld her, still seemingly within hail, suddenly cut from the view by the scud and blackness of a driving storm; and in each case, as the eager eye failed in again securing its object, and was compelled to exclaim, "she is gone!" I found relief from the oppression within only by fervent prayer to that Being who not only "commands the winds and the waves and they obey," but who guards and sanctifies by his grace all who put their trust in him. The rapid and involuntary ejaculation has been," Almighty and most merciful God, let thy Spirit be with him! preserve him from the power of the tempest and from the destruction of the deep! Keep, him O keep him from the evil there is in the world, in the world to come crown him with life everlasting!" while "God bless him!" "God bless him!" were the long echoings of the heart. And now, as I stood, gazing still on the west, while nothing but the undulating line of a watery horizon was marked against its clear blue sky, I insensibly looked-at thoughts of those I love best-to the same consolatory and sure refuge; and in prayer and in tears left for them a memorial before God. pp. 21-23.

A prosperous voyage is ordinarily interesting rather than diversified. The very fact that the wanderer is as it were cut off from the bustle and the varied incidents of common life, leaves his thoughts more free and undiverted, gives his imagination a livelier play, and begets a softened susceptibility, a tenderness of feeling, which fits him to be exquisitely alive to the beauties of the ocean -whether he sees it silvered by the glittering radiance of moonlight, or gilded by the richer hues of sunrise or of sunset, or lashed and tossed in the terrific grandeur of the tempest. And hence even in the absence of remarkable occurrences, there is yet felt

The exulting sense-the pulse's maddening play
That thrills the wanderer of that trackless way.

And the transcript of gloomy feeling, accompanied by striking sketches of the scenery by which it is awakened, will prove more interesting to the majority of readers, than the mere detail of incidents which have in them, perhaps, little that is entertaining. Such a transcript are the four letters which describe the voyage to Brazil.

They give us a glance at the policy and general aspect of a manof-war, notice briefly the professional and moral character of the seamen, furnish several sea sketches beautifully drawn, and present many interesting circumstances and remarks, in connection with the professional labors of the writer.

On the 30th of March, 1829, after a passage of somewhat more than six weeks, the Guerriere entered the bay of Rio de Janeiro. The adjacent scenery Mr. Stewart describes as preeminently fine.

On our right, and very near, was a beautifully defined beach, of snowy whiteness, stretching in a long curve to the east, and with a couple of islets, which we had passed, forming the kind of bay in which we were. Beyond the beach stretched a narrow interval of lowland, covered with grass, backed by abrupt hills and mountains of varied and beautiful outline; the center of the sweep rising much above the rest, and forming a kind of crown to all around; the whole beautifully wooded, and still in the wild luxuriance of nature.

The lights of the evening gave the contour and shades of the landscape in fine effect; and with the setting sun, and its after coloring, there was a richness of hue thrown over it which I have never seen surpassed. You know the appearance of a heavy, distant thunder storm, in a mountainous country-such was the blackness of the whole hemisphere inland, imparting to the range of mountains about the entrance of the harbor, and to the sky above, one dead coloring of the deepest neutral tint. Over this blackness, in which streaks of sharpest lightning were fearfully playing, masses of those towering, motionless clouds, seen usually in America only in the afternoon and evening of a sultry summer's day, rose high against the heavens their tops and sides illumined by the sun behind, with gorgeous hues of purple and of gold, contrasting beautifully with the blackness beneath, and the deep blue of the tropic sky above. Such was the scene in front, with a sail or two in the foreground; while on our right stretched the white beach, green hills, and rich mountains before described; and behind, and on our left in the east, the ocean; from the bosom of which long and broadly marked rays of the deepest carmine, shot high up the blueness of the hemisphere, as if the sun were about again to rise in the fullness of his glory, from a watery bed in that direction. pp. 45, 46.

The city of Rio de Janeiro, the capitol of Brazil, is situated five miles from the entrance of the bay on its southern side; and contains a population of about 200,000. Its external appearance is highly picturesque; but with some exceptions in favor of the higher parts of the city, it is generally confined and filthy, and, as a natural consequence, is frequently unhealthy.

As the ship was to remain several days at Rio, Mr. Stewart took up his residence on shore, at the house of Hon. Wm. Tudor, United States' resident at the Brazilian court; and through the politeness of that gentleman was presented to the emperor, and the most distinguished persons connected with his government, and enjoyed peculiar facilities for becoming acquainted with the institutions and

manners of the country. He was present at the opening of the imperial Cortez by Don Pedro; from his account of which, we extract the following.

Both houses of the cortes had convened, and the members were answering to the call of their names. The whole-ecclesiastics in full canonicals, and laymen in court dress, with the cabinet ministers in chairs of state-made a varied and splendid show.

Happily for us simple republicans, a throne, that gorgeous seat for which men, it is to be feared, have sacrificed their all-eternal as well as temporal-needs in our country, and may it ever need, to be described. That of Brazil is a richly carved arm chair, supported by miniature lions with their heads aud manes in front, the whole in the richest gilding. The point of the high back is surmounted by an imperial crown also gilt, and the cushions are of white satin embroidered with gold. The ascent to the square platform of green velvet, on which it stands, is by three steps covered with the same material. The canopy of green silk velvet, with a gilt crown on the cornice in front, is as lofty as the ceiling, and from it heavy hangings of velvet, richly embroidered with gold, and lined with white damask figured with the same, descend to the platform and floor of the chamber.

Precisely at one, the hour appointed, Don Pedro, preceded by two officers, and followed by the cabinet and the whole cortes in procession, entered the farther end of the hall. Having to walk the whole length of it towards us, before reaching the throne, we had time for a deliberate survey of him. He was in full coronation attire, wearing the crown, and bearing the sceptre. The crown is lofty, of a beautiful antique shape, and one of the richest in the world. Except the cap of green silk velvet and the band or rim of gold, it seemed one mass of diamonds. Around the neck was a Spanish ruff of lace, and beneath it, in place of the ermine in other regal attire, a deep cape of the bright yellow feathers of the toucan, a splendid Brazilian bird. This cape was a part of the dress of the ancient caciques of the country, and was, with great propriety retained in the coronation parapharnalia, on the establishment of the empire. It is very like the feather capes of our Sandwich Island chieftains. Then came the robe of green silk velvet, lined with white satin, the whole gorgeously embroidered with gold. A recollection of some of the dresses in David's "Coronation of Josephine," will give you the best idea of this, as it swept far behind him. It was supported at a distance of ten or twelve feet by a couple of pages, who as the emperor became seated, cast it one side, leaving it widely spread over the steps of the throne. His under dress was of white satin embroidered with gold-high military boots, gold spurs, and a diamond hilted sword.

The loftiness of the crown, and general effect of the dress, made him appear tall, though his person is only of middle height, but stout and finely formed. His step was long, firm and deliberate, and more artificial I should think than essential to true dignity, while the expression of his countenance and whole air were decidedly haughty. This was probably attributable to an ill mood arising from circumstances connected with the special session of the legislature about to be opened.

When within a few steps of the throne, he stopped for a moment, and bowed to the diplomatic corps. This afforded me a full view of his face. His features are regular and of good style, with dark complexion, and full prominent eyes of light hazle. A projection of the checks near VOL. III. 36