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strange, the almost incredible, misconceptions which, even in stations of high authority, have sometimes prevailed against whatever is earnest and valuable in religion, and of which the opposition to our Bible, and missionary, and other Christian institutions are among the common symptoms. But, if to this merely intellectual reformation higher attainments have in any instance been added: if, as we would trust has been the case, many a youthful mind has been prepared to receive the truth in love, as well as in knowledge, and to imbibe those principles which are the best guide

through life, and the only true solace in death; and if among these should be found many of the friends of all that is good, and the supporters of all that is charitable, in another generation, then indeed will the respected author have infinite reason to rejoice that he has conscientiously chosen, if not that line of doctrine and conduct which most directly leads to temporal preferment, yet that which will be found of the greatest moment in the supremely important day, when "theythat have turned souls to righteousness shall shine as stars in the kingdom of God for ever and ever."

LITERARY AND PHILOSOPHICAL INTELLIGENCE,

&c. &c.

GREAT BRITAIN. PREPARING for publication :-Sermons by the Rev. S. Clift ;-Travels in the Holy Land; by W. R. Wilson;-History of London, &c.; by J. Bayley;-Progresses of King James; by Mr. Nichols;The Encyclopedia of Antiquities; by Mr. Fosbrooke;-Views of Interesting Churches; by J. P. Neale;-Details of the North-American Land Expedition; by Captain Franklyn;- Memoirs of Mary Queen of Scots; by Miss Benger; Journey through India, Egypt, and Palestine; by a Field Officer.

In the press :-History of Roman Literature; by J. Dunlop ;-The Chronology of the Last Fifty Years;-Dendrologica Britannica; by Mr. Watson ;Mr.Benson's Hulsean Lectures for 1822; -The Shipwrecked Lascar, a narrative; illustrated in verse by Miss Jane Taylor.

Oxford. The following subjects are proposed for the Chancellor's Prizes for the ensuing year:-For Latin Verse: "Ars Geologica." For an English Essay: "On Public 8pirit amongst the Ancients." For a Latin Essay: "Conditio Servorum apud Antiquos." Sir Roger Newdigate's Prize: "Stonehenge." On the last of January 1823, (to be continued on the last day of each succeeding month), will be published, price fourpence, the Religious Instructor,

or Church of England Sunday-school Teacher's Magazine; to be conducted by Clergymen of the Established Church. The Editors remark in their Prospectus;-" The expediency of educating the poor has been long admitted by the public voice; but the grand aim should be to impart to them that religi ous knowledge which alone is able to make them wise unto salvation. Upon this principle the Church of England has always acted; and the utility of the Sunday Schools in her communion, in promoting this valuable end, is becoming every day more apparent; while the benevolent exertions of gratuitous teachers afford the means of infusing into the minds of the young the prin ciples of religion, as they are able to bear them. The post which these teachers occupy is so important, that some publication, mainly devoted to their use, seems necessary. To enable them effectually to impart instruction to their scholars, and to train them up in conscientious communion with the Established Church, it is essential that they competently understand its doctrine and discipline, and the Scripturefoundation of its creeds and formularies; and the present work is undertaken with the view of aiding them in acquiring this knowledge. The plan will embrace original essays upon the impor

tance of religious education to the poor, the economy of Sunday Schools, the moral, religious, and mental qualifications of teachers; ecclesiastical biography and history; illustrations of Holy Writ; explanation of the Liturgy; familiar sermons; forms of prayer; progress of education; anecdotes; brief review of books proper for the perusal of teachers, &c." FRANCE.

The celebrated Faculty of Medicine in Paris, lately suppressed and dispersed by order of the government, is stated to have contained, at the time of its dispersion, nearly 4000 students, attracted from all partsof Europe bythe ce lebrity of the professors and the convenience of hospitals, &c. It is most deeply to be lamented that either angry politics or the deistical, not to say atheistical, notions of the French physiological school should ever have penetrated what ought to be a peaceful abode of science. There are but two other medical faculties, those of Strasburg and Montpelier, at which degrees and diplomas can be obtained.

EGYPT.

A roll of papyrus of great curiosity is stated to have been discovered in the island of Elephantina. It contains a portion of the latter part of the Iliad, with scholea fairly written in large capitals, such as were in use during the time of the Ptolemys, and under the earlier Roman emperors.

In a paper communicated to the Royal Academy of Inscriptions and Belles Lettres, Sept, 27, 1822, occur, the following curious remarks on Egyptian inscriptions. It appears that the Egyp tians had three kinds of writing:-1. The Hieroglyphic writing, which directly painted ideas, by means of characters that represented the forms of sensible objects, sometimes in a proper, sometimes in a figurative, sense.-2. The Hieratic or Sacerdotal writing, the cha racters of which are for the most part arbitrary, and retain in their forms but very faint traces of sensible objects. This second system is merely a short hand of the first. Most of the inscriptions found on Egyptian tombs are in the hieratic writing.-3. The Demotic (popular) writing, which was employed in civil affairs and private concerns. It was composed of signs borrowed with out alteration from the hieratic writing; but it often combined them according to rules peculiar to itself. These three

systems of writing represented ideas, and not sounds or pronunciation. Their general process was, however, modelled on the spoken Egyptian language.— But since the three systems of Egyp tian writing did not express the sounds of words, by what means could the Egyptians insert proper names and words belonging to foreign languages? In reply to this it has been recently ascertained, from various inscriptions, that they had an auxiliary series of signs to express the sounds of proper names, and of words foreign to the Egyptian language. For example: the hieroglyphic text of the celebrated Rosetta in scription, contains the name of Ptolemy, represented by seven or eight hieroglyphical characters. Now, the Egyptian Obelisk brought to London by M. Belzoni, from the island of Philæ, was connected with a base, bearing a petition, in the Greek language, addressed by the Priests of Isis, at Philæ, to King Ptolemy Euergetus II. to Queen Cleopatra his wife, and to Queen Cleopatra his sister. In the hieroglyphic inscriptions which cover the four faces of this obelisk, occurs the hieroglyphic name of Ptolemy, precisely similar to that in the hieroglyphic text of Rosetta, and likewise the name of Cleopatra. These two, hieroglyphic names, which in the Greek have some letters in common, it was considered would serve to institute, a comparison between the hieroglyphic signs which compose them both; and if the corresponding letters in the two Greek names were found expressed in both the Egyptian scrolls by the same hieroglyphics, it was to be concluded, that in the hieroglyphic writing there existed, as in the demotic, a series of signs representing sounds er pronunciations. This hypothesis is stated to be verified by the comparison of these two hieroglyphic names. From further researches, a whole alphabet of charac ters has been discovered.

UNITED STATES.

An academical institution on a large scale, entitled "Columbian College,” has been lately established in the dis trict from which it takes its name. About fifty acres of land have bees purchased, on the northern boundary of the city of Washington; on which site a substantial edifice has been erected, calculated for the accommodation of one hundred students, with dwelling-houses for professors. It is the intention of the trustees, as soon as practicable, to

proceed to the erection of the main college edifice, large enough to accommodate three or four hundred students. The college was incorporated by an Act of Congress in February 1821; and its operations commenced in January 1822, under the care of the Rev. W. Staugh, tou, D.D. president, with six professors, two tutors, and thirty students, The number of students has since been considerably augmented. This institution, though promising to have an exten, sive national influence, relies solely on individual liberality for support; and the trustees hope that their friends in Great Britain will cheerfully assist them in their undertaking.

One of the Professors, the Rev. Mr. Woods, has been in London, collecting for the object; and to him communications may be addressed, at No. 3, Wardrobe Place, Doctors' Commons.→ The Columbian College will afford fresh facilities for the instruction of missionaries to the heathen. Most of the mis sionaries who have been hitherto sent out from the United States, have stu, died in the Theological Institution at Andover, in Massachusetts; and the Columbian College will supply similar advantages to missionary students in the Middle and Southern States of the Union.

LIST OF NEW PUBLICATIONS.

THEOLOGY.

Twenty-four Sermons on Practical Subjects, translated from the Works of the most eminent French and Dutch Protestant Ministers in Holland; by J. Werninck, D. D. &c. 8vo. 10s. 6d.

A Vindication of the Authenticity of the Narratives contained in the two first Chapters of the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Luke; being an investigation of objections urged by the Unitarian Editors of the Improved Version of the New Testament; by a Layman. 8vo. 10s. 6d. Orton's Sacramental Meditations, abridged, for young Persons. 12mo. 3s. 6d.

Gleanings and Recollections on Moral and Religious Subjects; by a Parent.

18mo. 1s.

A Charge delivered to the Clergy of the Archdeaconry of Derby ; by J. Butler, D. D. 8vo. 1s. 6d.

Sermons Doctrinal and Practical; by the Rev. H. G. White, A.M. 2 vols. 8vo. 11. 18.

The Christian's Monitor; by W. Schaw. 12mo. 5s.

Exposition of the Book of Proverbs; by the late Rev. George Lawson, D. D. 2 vol. 12mo. 58.

Sermons, in which such words are explained in the margin as are likely not to be understood by the uninformed; by the Rev. B. Post, LL. B. 12mo. 4s. Biblia Hebraica, Editio longé accura tissima, ab Everardo Van der Hooght, V.D. M. 8vo. 11. 5s.

Asaph; or the Hernhutters: a Rhyth mical Sketch of the Church of the Unitas Fratrum. 12mo. 3s. 6d.

The whole Works of the Rev. T. Adam, of Wintringham, now first collected; 3 vols.; by the Rev. W. Smith. 8vo. Al. 78.

The Second Advent; by the Rev. J. Fry, B.A. 2 vols. 8vo. 11. 8s.

A Concordance to the Holy Bible ; to which is added, a Geographical Index, with the Calendar and Table of Lessons; by J. W. Bellamy, M.A. 4to. 48. Royal 8vo. 8s.

MISCELLANEOUS,

Cicero de Republica, e codice Vati cano, descripsit Angelus Maius. 1 vol. 8vo.

The History of Henry Milner, a little Boy who was not brought up according to the Fashions of this World; by Mrs. Sherwood. 12mo. 3s. 6d.

Part I. of Portraits of the Sovereigns of England; by W. H. Worthington. Royal Svo. 12s.

Gems, etched by R. Dagley; with Illustrations in Verse; by the Rev. G. Croly, A. M. 8s. 6d.

Lithographic Prints, illustrative of France, Switzerland, and Italy, by Marianne Colstow. 8vo. Engravings from Antiquarian Subjects. 2s. 6d.

Military Memoirs of the great Civil War. 410. 11. 166.

Epitome of Blackstone's Commentaries; by V. Wanostrocht, LL.D. 12mp.

12s.

Time's Telescope, for 1823. 98.

Influence; a Moral Tale for Young People; by a Lady; 2 vols. 12mo. 12s.

History of the English Government and Constitution, from Henry VII, to the present Time; by Lord John Rnssell. 8vo, 148,

The Importance of Educating the Infant Poor; shewing how 300 Children, from 18 Months to 7 Years may be managed by one Master and Mistress; by Samuel Wilderspin. 5s.

RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE.

CHURCH MISSIONARY SOCIETY. We hope in our Appendix to present our readers with an outline of the Society's last and very interesting Report, which will shortly issue from the press : in the mean time, we are desirous of devoting a few pages to a selection of extracts from the Society's correspondence during the last few months. As our limits require us to confine ourselves at present to a small portion of the Society's labours, we shall select our extracts from the documents relative to two stations only ;-New Zealand and Sierra Leone. From the former of these the intelligence has of late been deeply afflicting; the latter continues to afford abundant cause for gratitude to Him who alone can render the efforts of his servants conducive to the promotion of his glory and the salvation of mankind.

New Zealand.

The ferocious wars at present raging among the native chiefs, instigated by Shunghee, a powerful native who visit ed this country some time since, have not only seriously impeded the operations of the mission, but may even, it is feared, render a temporary suspension of it necessary. The following passages from the journal of the Rev. Mr. Marsden, during his late visits to New Zealand, will illustrate the character and customs of these uncivilized but not hopeless islanders; and we trust will lead every reader to pray earnestly to the "Lord of the harvest," on behalf of this benighted region, that he would dispel its delusions by the introduction of his Gospel, and bring its hitherto wild and heathen inhabitants to a practical and saving knowledge of "the truth as it is in Jesus."

While we remained here, we had long conversations on the advantages of education, agriculture, navigation, &c. The chiefs are, in general, very sensible men, and wish for information on all subjects. They are accustomed to public discussions from their infancy. The chiefs take their children, from their mothers' breasts, to all their public assemblies; where they hear all that is said on politics, war, religion, &c. by the oldest men. Children will frequently ask questions in public conversation, and are answered by the chiefs. I have often been surprised to see the sons of

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chiefs, at the age of four or five years, sitting among the chiefs, and paying the closest attention to what was said. The children never appear under any embarrassment when they address a stranger. "In every village, the children, as soon as they learned any of our names, came up to ns and spake to ns with the greatest familiarity. At the age of eight or ten years, they appear to be initiated into all the customs and manners of their ancestors, by being the constant companions of their fathers, and attending them in all their public councils, and in the field of military glory.

"The power of their chiefs, the rites and ceremonies of their religion, and the glory of war, are the grand subjects of their conversation. Their memories are very strong, and they shew much anxiety to increase their knowledge. They are great and enterprising travellers in their own country. Many of them are absent on their journeys ten and twelve months at a time.

"In walking through the village of Rangheehoo, one morning, I observed Towhee tattooing the son of the late Tippahee. The operation was very painful. It was performed with a smalt chisel made of the wing-bone of a pigeon or wild fowl. This chisel was about a quarter of an inch broad; and was fixed in a handle, four inches long, so as to form an acute angle at the head; something like a little pick, with one end. With this chisel he cut all the straight and spiral lines, by striking the head with a stick about one foot long, in the same manner as a farrier opens the vein of a horse with a fleam. One end of this stick was cnt flat like a knife, to scrape off the blood as it gushed from the cuts. The chisel appeared to pass through the skin at every stroke, and cut it as a carver cuts a piece of wood. The chisel was constantly dipt in a liquid made from a particular tree, and afterward mixed with water; which communicates the blackness, or, as they call it, the amoko.' I observed prondflesh rising in some parts, which had been cut almost a month before. The operation is so painful, that the whole tattooing cannot be borne at one time; and it appears to be several years before the chiefs are perfectly tattooed,

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"When a chief is killed in a regular battle, the victors cry aloud, as soon as he falls, Throw us the man,' if he falls within the lines of his own party. If the party, whose chief is dead, are intimidated, they immediately comply with the command. As soon as the victim is received, his head is immediate ly cut off; and a proclamation is issued for all the chiefs who belong to the victorious party to attend to assist in performing the accustomed religious ceremony, in order to ascertain, by angury, whether their god will prosper them in the present battle. If the priest, after the performance of the ceremony, says that their god is propitious, they are inspired with fresh courage to attack the enemy; but if the priest returns answer, that their god will not be propitious, they quit the field of battle in sullen silence. The head already in possession, is preserved for the chief on whose account the war was undertaken, as a satisfaction for the injury which he, or some one of his tribe, had received from the enemy.

"When the war is over, and the head properly cured, it is sent round to all the chief's friends, as a gratification to them, and to shew them that justice had been obtained from the offending party. "With respect to the body of the chief, it is cut up into small portions, and dressed for those who were in the battle, under the immediate direction of the chief who retains the head: and if he wishes to gratify any of his friends who are not present, small portions are reserved for them; on the receipt of which they give thanks to their god for the victory obtained over the enemy. If the flesh should be so putrid, from the length of time before it is received, that it cannot be eaten, a substitute is eaten instead.

"They not only eat the flesh of the chiefs, but are wont to take their bones, and distribute them among their friends, who make whistles of some of them, and fish-hooks of others. These they value and preserve with care, as memorials of the death of their enemies.

"It is also customary with them, for a man, when he kills another in battle, to taste the blood of the slain. He imagines that he shall then be safe from the wrath of the god of him that is fallen; believing, that, from the moment he tastes the blood of the man whom he has killed, the dead man becomes a part of himself, and places him under the pro

tection of the Atua, or god, of the departed spirit.

"As these people have no regular established government, it appears that all crimes are punished, either by an appeal to the sword, or by plundering the offender, of his little property and laying waste his potatoe-grounds.

"The people of a village between Whangarooa and the North Cape had taken the bones of the father of Shunghee's wife from the sepulchre, and had made fish-hooks of them. Having satisfied himself of the fact, Shunghee proceeded to the village, where the people lived who had committed the sacrilege; and, going up within gun-shot of them, in the open day, informed them that he was come to punish them for spoiling the sepulchre where his wife's father's bones had been deposited, and for making his bones into fish-hooks. They admitted his charge, and the justice of his conduct: he then, without entering the village, fired upon them and killed five men; whereupon the party attacked requested him to fire no more; for the death of those who were shot was a sufficient atonement for the offence committed. Shunghee answered, that he was satisfied; and the business was thus decided, with the mutual consent of both parties.

"The death of a chief may be revenged by his children's children, if the tribe to which he belonged should ever have strength to retaliate. Hence a foundation is continually laid for new acts of cruelty and blood, from generation to generation; as the remembrance of these injuries seems never to be forgotten by them.

"We now took our leave of Shunghee's family, and went to see the Atua, the lamentations still continuing. On our arrival, we found a dead chief seated in great state. His hair was dressed according to their custom, and ornamented with feathers and a garland of green leaves. His countenance was bright and clear, having been recently anointed with oil; and retained its natural colour. Whether there was a body or not, we could not tell: for the mats covered the whole up to the chin. He had the appearance of a living man, sitting upright in his chair. I had seen one, some time before, whose head was dressed in a similar way; and the body had been preserved and dried as well as the head. This chief was a young man when he died, apparently about

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