of Connecticut. In every view of the subject, therefore, the opinion we have expressed, that it was not a difference about church government, so far as Presbyterianism and Congregationalism were connected with that topick, but an effort to awaken a slumbering church from a state of spiritual lethargy, and the effects of that effort (in which human passions, and infirmities and errors too often appeared) that produced the division of the Presbyterian church, which began in 1741, and continued till 1758.

We are now prepared to notice what we take to be two errors in the statements contained in Professor Miller's first letter-The first is found in the following sen

tences.

"It is due to candour to say, that the Congregational part of the ministers, and those who sided with them, appear to have been more ardent in their piety, than the strict Presbyterians. At any rate, it is undoubtedly a fact, that they urged in the judicatories of the church, with peculiar zeal, their wishes that great care should be exercised respecting the personal piety of candidates for the holy ministry; and that a close examination on experimental religion should always make a part of tri

als for license and ordination."

The error of this statement consists in representing the Congregationalists as leaders, which none of them were, and only a part of them followers, in the efforts made to awaken a spirit of piety in the Presbyterian church, and to guard that church against the introduction into her ministry of men unacquainted with experimental religion. Mr. Gilbert Tennent was the original proposer and advocate of both these measures; and neither he nor those who were associated with him in the original Presbytery of N. Brunswick, were Congregationalists by education, nor, so far as is known, by choice or preference; unless Mr. Wales was an exception, and of this there is no evidence. Besides Mr. Wales, his first associates were his brother William, John Cross,

and Samuel Blair; and the additions that were made to the Presbytery up to the year 1745, were chiefly native Irishmen,-as his father, and brother Charles, and Samuel Finley, with several others. Mr. Treat, who was an early and active member, was, we believe, from New England; but he never appears to have been partial to Congregationalism. In military phrase, the battle was fought and the victory won, before the Congregationalists became open and avowed auxiliaries of the New Brunswick Presbytery. We have seen that others joined them, and that a Synod was formed, while as yet the leading Congregationalists, Dickinson, Pierson and Pemberton, with the whole Presbytery to which they belonged, had their standing in the old Synod, and were in fact caressed by that body. There is no doubt but that they wished well to the same cause in which Mr. Tennent and his associates were engaged, and laboured to promote it. But as we have said, they were not leaders but followers in this cause. As early, we believe, as 1742, Mr. Dickinson published his famous and excellent DIALOGUE; but who

were its recommenders in the Pres

byterian church, selected as having the most influence in it? They were Gilbert Tennent, William Tennent, Samuel Blair, Richard Treat, Samuel Finley and John Blair-all, except one, Irishmen, either by birth, or by parentage;

The writer was informed by his father, this excellent man was one of Mr. Whitewho was a cotemporary of Mr. Treat, that

field's converts. Mr. Treat had been a set

tled pastor for some time, when the preaching of Whitefield convinced him that he

tal religion. He was greatly embarrassed had never known any thing of experimenand distressed, and asked the opinion of Mr. W. whether he should continue to preach or desist. Whitefield advised him to continue. He did so, and soon became comfortable in his own mind, and a man of exemplary piety and great ministerial usefulness.

and all, without exception, as real and firm Presbyterians as any in the Synod of Philadelphia. The truth is, that both among Presbyterians and Congregationalists, and quite as many among the latter as the former, the Whitefieldian revival of religion had bitter enemies as well as ardent friends. The government of Yale College, of which Mr. Clap was then president, as well as the government of the colony of Connecticut, was hostile to the revival. David Brainerd, now celebrated as a pattern for missionaries, was, for a single indiscreet speech, inquisitorially sought after and ascertained, expelled from Yale, and could never obtain a restoration. Mr. Finley, afterwards Dr. Finley, and president of the college of New Jersey, for travelling and preaching in Connecticut, was taken up, under a law of the colony, and handed from one constable to another, till he was carried out of the colony.* Professor Miller's error appears to have proceeded from taking for granted, what indeed the members of the old Synod endeavoured to have believed, (but which their opponents always strenuously

* A pupil of Dr. Finley, the late Ebenezer Hazard, Esq., informed the writer, that as soon as Dr. Finley had paid the penalty of the law, by being carried out of the colony, he mounted his horse and rode back again.

denied) that they, and they only, were the strict Presbyterians. That such was not the fact, we think we have conclusively shown. A native Irishman, and a strict Presbyterian, was the first mover of reformation in the Synod of Philadelphia. Those who openly joined him, when opposed and cast out, were mostly of the same character, for four successive years. Then they were openly joined by Congregationalists-who, no doubt, loved their cause from the first, and did something to promote it, but who, till this period, remained in connexion and esteem with the adversaries of those with whom they at last formed a connexion. Such we think is the fair statement of facts-We verily believe, after a laborious investigation, that, as stated above, the Synod of New York were as strictly Presbyterial as the Synod of Philadelphia. In both Synods, there were a few who retained Congregational predilections, but in neither, after the separation, did these few individuals oppose the wishes and the doings of the large majority, who were in feeling and principle, as well as in practice, friends to strict Presbyterian government.

For want of space, we are reluctantly obliged to defer our notice of Professor M.'s second error, till our next number.

(To be continued.)

First abdication at Fontainbleau

Oct. 26, 1795

Army of

Feb. 23, 1796 Aug. 13, 1799 Aug. 2, 1802 May 18, 1803 Dec. 2, 1804

April 11, 1814

Mounts the throne again March 20, 1815

Second abdication
Landed at St. Helena
Died

June 22, 1815 Oct. 16, 1815 May 5, 1821. Chloride of Soda is said, in the London Lancet-a medical work--to be an effec

tual cure for a burn. It is stated in that

journal, as an example, that an attorney in attempting to put out the flames that had attacked the curtains of his bed, got his hands burned, blistered, but not broken. He sent for a couple of quarts of the lotion, (4 oz. of the solution to a pint of water) had it poured in soup plates, wrapped his hands in lint, as no skin was broken; and so kept them for some time. Next morning he was so perfectly well that only one small dried patch of burn remained; yet an hour and a half had elapsed before the application. It is added that the same remedy is sufficient to heal scalds and a black eye.

Mount Vesuvius has been in a state of eruption since the 28th of May, and is daily thronged with thousands, many of whom pass the night at the brink of the crater; among them are considerable numbers of English. At about fifty paces from the burning bed of lava, booths are erected for supplying refreshments.

A Petrifaction.-Baron Steuben died of apoplexy at Steuben, Oneida Co. N. Y. in November, 1795. Agreeably to his request his remains were wrapped in his cloak, enclosed in a plain coffin, and deposited in a grave without a stone. Many years after, we learn by a memoir in the N. Y. Com. Advertiser, his body was disinterred for the purpose of burial in another place, and it was found to have passed into a state of complete petrifaction, and is believed to remain in that state of preservation to this day. The features of his face were as unchanged as on the day of his interment.

Beech Trees proof against Electrical Fluid.-A correspondent of the American

Farmer states, that it is a very common opinion among surveyors and woodsmen of the western states, that the beech tree possesses the non-conducting power ascribed to the cedar. "I presume," says he, "I have passed a hundred oaks which have been stricken, and although beech is more common than any other timber, I have not discovered one of that kind."

The Holy Bible in Canton.-A second edition of the Bible has recently been published at the Anglo-Chinese College, Malacca; it is a large and beautiful octavo in 21 volumes, and has been printed with new blocks.

Ten Miles of Paper.—Paper used to be but in "the march of improvement," stasold by the sheet, the quire, or the ream; tionary will not remain stationary, and so it is now sold by measure. The following order was received from a pottery firm the served, gives his orders with as much inother day. The writer, it will be obdifference as though they were not at all extraordinary :-"Gentlemen-Please to send us ten miles of your best printing tissue paper, in length; 6 miles to be 30 inches broad, 4 miles, 22 inches broad-to be wrapped on wooden rollers, according to the plan given to Mr. George Fourdrinier." The object of having the paper of such great length is, that it may be printed from engraved cylinders, in the same way as calicoes, &c.-London paper.

The first newspaper was printed in England in 1559, and is entitled "The English Mercurie," which, by authority, was imprinted at London, by Christopher Baker, her Highness's (Queen Elizabeth) printer.

Fredericksburg, (Vir.) Aug. 28. Earthquake.-A smart shock of an earthquake was felt in this place about half past six o'clock yesterday morning, accompanied by a loud rumbling noise. Its duration was probably from ten to fif teen seconds. The vibration was very sensible, rattling the glass in the windows, and shaking the furniture in the houses. Many persons were considerably alarmed. It was indeed the severest shock remembered ever to have been felt in this place. Its course was nearly from west to east.

Fire Escape.-A late London paper gives an account of the trial of a very simple invention for rescuing persons from the chambers of houses on fire, when retreat by the staircase is cut off. The apparatus of a broad sheet of canvas, with numerous loop holes at the border, to admit the grasp of persons in attendance in the stretching of the sheet. The foreman and firemen of the Protector Fire Office, and a considerable number of scientifick and other persons were present. The canvas being stretched by the assistance of the firemen, a young man, sergeant of

police, and other persons, leaped several times from the roof and other parts of the house, and alighted in perfect safety. Several magistrates and distinguished persons witnessed the proceedings, and seemed convinced that, of every means of rescuing the inmates of houses, when on fire, from the risk of perishing in the flames, this simple canvas sheet is the most effective, the most portable, and the most certain of being adopted as an effectual life preserver.

Cream.-G. Carter, Esq., of England, has published a new method of obtaining cream from milk, by which more cream is obtained than in the common way. It is as follows: a four-sided vessel twelve inches long, eight wide, and six deep, is formed of zinc, having a false bottom at half the depth; and a perforated zinc plate made to fit the vessel and lie upon the false bottom. Pour the new milk into the upper part of the vessel, and let it stand twelve hours; then through an aperture or "lip" left for the purpose, pour as much boiling water into the lower part, and let it stand twelve hours longer. The cream will be so thick that it might be lifted off with the thumb and finger; but the better way is to lift up the perforated plate by rings at the ends, and the cream is completely separated without being at all mixed with milk; from numerous experiments it appears that in this way, four gallons of milk will yield 4 pints of "clotted cream," and 40 ounces of butter, being an increase of 12 per cent. of cream and 11 per cent. of butter, over the common method.

The following statistical information is furnished by the Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, along with the printed minutes of that body for 1833.

This portion of the Catholic Church of Christ in the world, under one general assembly of Bishops and Ruling Elders, styled Commissioners, which, with the Delegates from Corresponding Bodies, in May last, consisted of two hundred and seventy-four persons, comprehends, according to the returns now in my possession, twenty-two Synods; one hundred and eleven Presbyteries; eighten hundred and fifty-five ordained Bishops; two hundred and fifteen Licentiates, making two thousand and seventy preachers of the Gospel; two hundred and twenty-nine Candidates in a state of preparation for the ministry; twenty-five hundred churches: and two hundred thirty-three thousand five hundred and eighty Communicants. Our increase during the last year has been

in Bishops, one hundred and twenty-five; in Licentiates ten; in Candidates, nine; in ordained and licensed preachers, one hundred and thirty-five; in Churches one hundred and nineteen; and in Communicants sixteen thousand two hundred and forty-two. The Communicants added on examination last year were twenty-three thousand five hundred and forty-six; being ten thousand six hundred and fourteen less than were reported in 1832, as added in the same way. Seven thousand two hundred and fifty-two were added last year by certificate from other churches, or passed from one of our congregations to another, being three hundred and sixtysix more than were received in the same manner in the year previous. The total of additions now reported is thirty-thousand seven hundred and ninety-eight. Of these, fourteen thousand five hundred and fifty-six, must be considered as equal to the number of persons who have deceased, or been dismissed or suspended, or who were at the time of making the reports in a state of transition from the care of one session to another, or who for some reason have not been reported as members: leaving, as above stated, the net gain of communicants of 1833, over the whole number of 1832, at sixteen thousand two hundred and forty-two. The baptisms now returned amount to twenty-one thousand eight hundred and twenty of which six thousand nine hundred and fifty were of adults, fourteen thousand and thirtyfive of infants, and eight hundred and thirty-five of persons not distinguished. The baptisms of 1832, exceeded those of 1833, by two thousand eight hundred and eighty-three. The funds reported as having been collected in the year preceding the meeting of the last General Assembly were, for missionary purposes, seventysix thousand four hundred twenty dollars and thirty-nine cents; for defraying the expenses of Commissioners to the Assembly, four thousand six-hundred eighty-nine dollars and fifty-eight cents; for different Theological Seminaries, six thousand three hundred and eleven dollars and twenty-three cents; for the education of poor and pious youth, principally with reference to their becoming ministers of the gospel, forty-seven thousand one hundred fifty-three dollars and sixty-five cents; and for the Contingent Expenses of the Assembly, eight hundred ninety-two dollars and eighty-seven cents; which give a total of one hundred thirty-five thousand four hundred sixty-seven dollars and seventytwo cents collected for charitable uses.

This sum is less than the total for the same objects in 1832, by two thousand three hundred fifty-one dollars and sixtyseven cents. Eleven Presbyteries have made no returns of any collections; and

four have reported only on the Commissioners' Fund.

In all the Presbyteries there are several churches which have made no reports on any subject, for some time past; and some which have never returned so much as the number of their communicants since I have been Stated Clerk. Our statistics, however, are much more complete than they formerly were; and must be regarded as a near approximation to an exact statement of the numbers and operations of our whole body.

With lamentation that it should be necessary, we state the fact of the suspension of three of our ministers during the last year; two of these for intemperance in drink, and one for heresy in doctrine. Latest intelligence from the River Niger-The expedition fitted out in Liverpool about a year since, by a company of enterprising merchants for the purpose of navigating the river Niger, with a view of opening a communication between the interior of Africa and England, has not met with the success which all hoped would have resulted from an undertaking, in which nothing was wanting which prudent care and forethought could supply, to se cure the objects of the voyage.

Two steam boats, built expressly for the purpose, one of wood, and the other of cast iron, the latter drawing but two and a half feet of water, were the means by which the object was to be effected. A brig of one hundred and seventy-six tons accompanied the steamboats, containing a quantity of coal and such articles of merchandise as would meet a ready sale with the natives, and assist them in their progress up the river.

These vessels were well manned and armed; mounting together, twenty-one guns, besides muskets, pistols, cutlasses and boarding-pikes, for every individual on board-a force sufficient to keep at bay the concentrated forces of all the petty sovereigns whose territories border upon the Niger, should they attempt to oppose the progress of the expedition-Two officers of the royal navy accompanied the squadron at the request of the admiralty, for purposes of a scientifick nature; and a gentleman of talents volunteered his services as a surgeon and naturalist. Mr. Lairs, a distinguished merchant of Liverpool, acted as director and supercargo, and Richard Lander, the African traveller, as guide, interpreter and general adviser of the expedition.

Great interest has been felt in England as well as in the United States, for the success of this great undertaking, which was to open the hitherto inaccessible portions of that great continent, to the enterprise of the trading community.

This immense and luxuriant country,
Ch. Adv.-VOL. XI.

studded with populous cities, towns and villages, watered by the majestick Niger, which flows through it for two thousand five hundred miles, receiving as many tributary streams as our own Mississippi, presents many objects well worthy the attention of England as well as America; and truly has it been said by a writer in the United Service Journal, "What a field is here displayed for mercantile adventure! What an opening for the trade of Great Britain! What a market for her languishing manufactures! What a means of striking at the heart of the slave trade, by introducing civilization and industry across the very route of the principal Caf filas. What a harvest for geographical and other science, in exploring the Niger and its tributary streams. What an opportunity for missionaries to spread the light of the gospel! in the focus of idolatry and superstition. What a glorious chance of converting myriads of heathen nations; and of substituting for ignorance, cruelty and barbarism, the blessed doctrines of peace, good will and eternal salvation."

Publick expectation has been much excited by late accounts of the progress and hopes of the expedition. The last letters received in England from Mr. Lander were of the most cheering nature: but we have been favoured with the perusal of a letter, received on Tuesday last, from captain Pearce, of the Agenora, of this city, dated at Prince's Island, by which we regret to learn that the English adventurers had not succeeded in accomplishing the objects of their voyage; or at least they had met with unforeseen difficulties, which had greatly retarded its progress.

Mr. Lander, after being six months on the Niger, had only ascended the river as far as the mouth of the Tchadda, about two hundred and fifty miles from its mouth. This point was not reached without much fighting with the natives, who continually opposed his progress; and consequently he was unable to trade but little with them. The fatal disease which has arrested the progress of so many British adventurers, in attempting to explore these inhospitable regions, had made dreadful havock among his people. Twenty-three have died of sickness-which compelled the expedition to remain at the mouth of the Tchadda, until they could obtain a reinforcement of men, as well as provisions suited for the voyage. For this purpose Mr. Lander had left the steamboats and descended the ri ver Nun, where he procured new recruits and a supply of provisions, and was then on his way back in the schooner Dove, the tender of the Agenora; which vessel was to convey him to Brass Town, in the Brassa country, a few miles from the coast, where, after assisting captain Pearce in 3 H