duced, from the eligibility of the spot, and the desirableness of the situation, for the great work of attempting the conversion and civilization of the heathen, to fix on that part of Whangarooa on which George possessed the greatest authority. Here a mission station was fixed-houses erected -gardens cultivated-children taught -and to the adults was imparted all the instruction they were capacitated to receive. The mission establishment comprised the Rev. William White, the Rev. Nathaniel Turner, (with Mrs. Turner and two children,)| the Rev. John Hobbs, Mr. Stack, and a female domestic. The accounts that have been forwarded to the colony, have hitherto been pregnant with interest of the most promising kind; but, alas! all the labours, the privations, and the dangers of these zealous men, appear now to be blighted, if not destroyed.

Letters just received by the Pocklington inform us that George, upon whom so much depended, and who acknowledged the value of the missionaries, has been some time in a dying state. Notwithstanding his professed veneration for the Europeans, especially the missionaries, he has desired the natives of Shukianga (the tribe whom he governs) to plunder and murder the missionaries, in reveuge for the death of his father, who was accidentally blown up in the Boyd at the period of her destruction, and for which he had not taken ample vengeance; and as these are testamentary instructions, a scrupulous adherence will certainly be observed. About the time of the Mercury's capture, the natives began to shew their indifference for the missionaries. Upon several occasions they were treated with much disrespect, which at length broke out into open violence. Upon one occasion, a spear was thrown at Mr. Turner, which broke off at the point, otherwise it must have entered the heart. The savage then seized the blunted weapon, and with a dreadful thrust tried to force it into the left side, aiming at the heart. It fortunately came in contact with the leather braces, and thus was prevented from entering the body, but so violent was the blow, that it continued some time doubtful whether it would prove mortal or not we rejoice to say, however, that Mr. Turner has nearly recovered.

Mr. White also, at this time, was severely, but not dangerously, beaten.

It is further reported, that so infuriated did the savages become, that they laid Mr. White's head on a block, with the intention to decapitate him; the axe was uplifted to despatch him; when another native, less ferocious in his nature, by a blow diverted the intended instrument of death, and Mr. W. becane thus providentially spared. The missionaries were obliged to hold a consultation with their brethren of the Church Missionary Society, at the Bay of Islands, as to the most prudent methods that should be adopted; and it was unanimously resolved, that the mission-station at Whangarooa be forthwith abandoned. To comply with advice of this kind was distressing in the extreme, as the most flattering prospects only a month before presented themselves. But the death of George seeming to be at hand, insult and cruelty became alarmingly increased, and the missionaries saw no other alternative than to yield to the entreaties of their fraternal counsellors. Mrs. Turner (being far advanced in pregnancy) with two small children, was conveyed by water to the Bay of Islands. Mr. Turner had also followed. Mr. White was employed in removing the most valuable property of the mission as imperceptibly as possible, for a discovery of their intention would be followed by instant death. Messrs. Hobbs and Stack remained at the station, to prevent any alarm. Mr. Turner and Mr. Hobbs had suffered severely from unceasing anxiety.

When the Pocklington sailed, the whole of the establishment were safe at the Bay of Islands. Of course the majority of the mission property would fall a sacrifice, consisting of several hundreds of pounds; and the missionaries expected to lose their most valuable effects. We must confess that we never had any predilection in favour of a mission to the New Zealanders, being the most savage, barbarous, and warlike race of cannibals on the face of the globe, and in all likelihood they will be about the last of the creation that will bow to the mild and convincing dictates of the Christian religion. The Church Missionary Society has been labouring there for many years past, and scarcely effected any thing; though we are pleased to learn, that here and there may be found a being

possessing less savageism than his brethren, and therefore more nearly approximated to civilized life. We have no wish to depress the minds of those indefatigable missionaries of the Church Society, we are aware they are entitled to all the prayers and all the thanks of the Christian world; but we must be allowed to express our decided conviction, that they "stand in jeopardy every hour." There seems to be no analogy between the Society Islander, the Friendly Islander, and the New Zealander; the latter being the most obdurate and blood-thirsty of the whole. But we only give this as our humble opinion.

TRASTED.

(From Mr. Sprague's Oration, at Boston; on the Fourth of July, 1825, the Anniversary of the Independence of the United States :) "ROLL back the tide of time. How powerfully to us applies the promise, Iwill give thee the heathen for an inheritance.' Not many generations ago, where you now sit, circled with all that exalts and embellishes civilized life, the rank thistle nodded in the wind, and the wild fox dug his hole unscared. Here lived and loved another race of beings. Beneath the same sun that rolls over your heads, the Indian hunter pursued the panting deer; gazing on the same moon that now smiles on you, the Indian lover wooed his dusky mate. Here the wigwam blaze beamed on the tender and helpless; the council fire glared on the wise and daring. Now they dipped their noble limbs in your sedgy lakes, and now they paddled their light canoes along your rocky shores. Here they warred; the echoing whoop, the bloody grapple, the defying death-song, all were here; and when the tiger strife was over, here curled the smoke of peace. Here, too, they worshipped; and from many a dark bosom went up a pure prayer to the Great Spirit. He had not written His laws for them on tables of stone, but he had traced them on the tables of their hearts. The poor child of nature knew not the God of revelation, but the God of the universe he acknowledged in every thing around. He beheld him in the star that sunk in beauty behind his lonely dwelling, in the sacred orb that flamed on him

face a whole, peculiar people. Art has usurped the bowers of nature, and the anointed children of education have been too powerful for the tribes of the ignorant. Here and there a stricken few remain; but how unlike their bold, untamed, untameable progenitors! The Indian, of falcon glance and lion bearing, the theme of the touching ballad, the hero of the pathetic tale, is gone! and his degraded offspring crawl upon the soil where he walked in majesty, to remind us how miserable is man, when the foot of the conqueror is on his neck.

"As a race, they have withered from the land. Their arrows are broken, their springs are dried up, their cabins are in the dust. Their council fire has long since gone out on the shore, and their war-cry is fast dying in the untrodden west. Slowly and sadly they climb the distant mountains, and read their doom in the setting sun. They are shrinking before the mighty tide which is pressing them away; they must soon hear the roar of the last wave, which will settle over them for ever. Ages hence, the inquisitive white man, as he stands by some growing city, will ponder on the structure of their disturbed remains, and wonder to what manner of persons they belonged. They will live only in the songs and chronicles of their exterminators. Let these be faithful to their rude virtues as men, and pay due tribute to their unhappy fate as a people.

"To the pious, who in this desert region built a city of refuge, little less than to the brave, who round that city

reared an impregnable wall of safety, we owe the blessings of this day. To enjoy and to perpetuate religious freedom, the sacred herald of civil liberty, they deserted their native land, where the foul spirit of persecution was up in its fury, and where mercy had long wept at the enormities perpetrated in the abused names of Jehovah and Jesus. 'Resist unto blood!' blind zealots had found in the bible, and lamentably, indeed, did they fulfil the command. With Thus saith the Lord,' the engines of cruelty were set in motion, and many a martyr spirit, like the ascending prophet from Jordan's bank, escaped in fire to heaven.

"It was in this night of time, when the incubus of bigotry sat heavy on the human soul:

When crown and crosier ruled a coward world,

And mental darkness o'er the nations curledWhen, wrapt in sleep, earth's torpid children lay,

Hagg'd their vile chains, and dream'd their

graves,

To seek a home beyond the waste of waves; And where it rose, all rough and wintry, here They swell'd devotion's song, and dropt devotion's fear.'

"Can we sufficiently admire the firmness of this little brotherhood, thus self-banished from their country? Unkind and cruel, it was true, but still their country! There they were born, and there, where the lamp of life was lighted, they had hoped it would go out. There a father's hand had led them, a mother's smile had warmed. There were the haunts of their boyish days, their kinsfolk, their friends, their recollection, their all. Yet all was left; even while their heartstrings bled at the parting, all was left; and a stormy sea, a savage waste, and a fearful destiny were encountered-for Heaven, and for you."

A PERSON DESTINED FOR LONG LIFE.

(From the German of Hufeland.) He has a proper and well-proportioned stature, without, however, being too tall. He is rather of the middle size, and somewhat thick set. His complexion is not too florid; at any rate, too much ruddiness in youth is seldom a sign of longevity. His hair approaches ather to the fair than the

black; his skin is strong, but not rough. His head is not too big; he has large veins at the extremities; and his shoulders are rather round than flat. His neck is not too long; his belly does not project; and his hands are large, but not too deeply cleft. His foot is rather thick than long; and his legs are firm and round. He has also a broad-arched chest, a strong voice, and the faculty of retaining his breath for a long time without difficulty. In general, there is a complete harmony in all his parts. His senses are good, but not too delicate; his pulse is slow and regular. His stomach is excellent, his appetite good, and his digestion easy. The pleasures of the table are to him of no importance; they tune his mind to serenity, and his soul partakes of the joy which they communicate. He does not eat merely for the sake of eating; but each meal is an hour of daily festivity; a kind of delight, attended with this advantage in regard to others, that it does not make him poorer, but richer. He eats too great thirst is always a sign of slowly, and has not too much thirst: rapid self-consumption. In general, he is serene, loquacious, active, susceptible of joy, love, and hope; but insensible to the impressions of hatred, anger, and avarice. His passions never become too violent or destructive. If he ever gives way to anger, he experiences rather an useful glow of warmth, an artificial and gentle fever, without an overflowing of the gall. He is fond also of employment, particularly calm meditation and agreeable speculations; is an optimist, a friend to nature and domestic felicity, has no thirst after honours and riches; and banishes all thoughts of to-morrow.

EDWARD VI.TH'S WISH TO HAVE THE

STATUTES SIMPLIFIED.

"I COULD wish," says king Edward, "that when time shall serve, the superfluous and tedious statutes were brought into one sum together, and made more plain and short, to the intent that men might the better understand them; which thing shall much help to advance the profit of the commonwealth." This work is now become imperious, and a time of peace is the season best adapted for its accomplishment.

GLEANINGS.

Cogent Reasons for Circulating the Scriptures. Had the people who existed at the time of our blessed Redeemer an unquestionable right to hear him promulgate his doctrine, or had they not? If they had not, for what purpose did he come upon earth? Does the New Testament contain a statement of doctrines promulgated by him, or does it not? If it do not, it is a forgery! If it do, has not every generation of mankind an equal right to acquire a knowledge of those doctrines by reading them in their written shape, as the generation which had the means of hearing them orally delivered? Supposing they were to be delivered now, again orally, would any body of men, ordained,' or unordained, presume to say, We alone are to have the privilege of hearing these doctrines from the mouth of the speaker, and the rest of our species shall only become acquainted with them through our report? If they made such a claim, would it be granted or rejected? If no body of men could be permitted to usurp such an authority, supposing them to be sufficiently insane to lay claim to it, under what pretext can any person, or assemblage of persons, assume a power of preventing any individual who can read, from reading that doctrine reduced to writing, which it would have been his undeniable right, his imperative duty, to have listened to, had he been within reach of the deliverer of it? Has not every being who either reads, or bears read, the written word, the same right, the same obligation, to interpret it for himself, as he would have with regard to the spoken word, if he had heard it from the mouth of the speaker? The answer to these questions will, we think, settle the Bible question.

The Enterprise, Steam Packet. This vessel, under the command of captain Johnston, left Gravesend on the third of August, and Falmouth on the 16th, 1825, on a voyage to India, being the first attempt of the kind that was ever made. Intelligence has lately been received, that she reached Table Bay, at the Cape of Good Hope, on the 13th of October, without having sustained any accident. Her arrival was noticed with marks of distinguished honour. The voyage occupied fifty-seven days, during thirty-five only of which, the machinery was employed. The greatest progress made in any twenty-four hours, was 190 miles, on the 10th of October, while under sail; and with the machinery, 169 miles, on the 3rd of September. It has been rather slightingly observed, that vessels, under sail alone, have been known to accomplish this voyage in a much shorter period than fifty-seven days. This may be readily allowed, under an auspicious breeze; and it may be remarked, that if a favourable gale could always be commanded, steam-vessels would not be wanted. It is under adverse winds and powerful currents, that their utility becomes apparent. Where one instance can be adduced in favour of the superior rapidity of ships under sail, ten can be found in behalf of vessels propelled by steam. And it is highly probable, if a ship ander sail had left Falmouth, for the Cape of Good Hope, on the day the Enterprise took her departure, her voyage would have been protracted to a much

greater length of time than that in which it has been now accomplished.

Public Credit.-The month of December has visited the commercial world with shocks not less alarming than those of an earthquake would have been to the natural. When any serious calamity takes place, every empiric can discover the cause, and furnish a remedy. Among these philanthropic volunteers, we also will give our opinion. To prevent similar disasters in future, to secure banking firms against sudden runs, and to guard the public from any serious loss, let no bank be permitted to issue any Cash notes except those supplied by government from the stamp-office, where the plates belonging to the parties shall be deposited, and whither the paper shall be sent to receive impressions. Let no bank be suffered to circulate Cash notes unless payable in London, and until the firm has vested a capital in the public funds equal to what it issues, the amount of which may always be known at the stampoffice. Let the principal, but not the interest, be under the control of the treasury, for the security of the public, to be sold out either by government, when the non-payment of the notes by the bank shall render such a measure necessary, or by the bank, as it withdraws its notes from circulation.

The London and other banks of deposit, may be protected from panic runs, by stipulating with those who regularly do business at their houses, to leave a certain sum, corresponding with the extent of their transactions, not to be drawn out under a month's notice. This regulation, however, need not prevent the banker from disregarding the restriction in ordinary times.

Bible Society. This noble institution has for some time been disturbed in its operations, by the agitation of this question,-"Whether the Apocrypha shall, or shall not, be circulated, with the canonical Scriptures." On this subject many things have been written both for and against, and for some time the controversy appeared to wear an ominous aspect.

To bring this question to an issue, a special meeting of the general committee took place at the Bible Society's house, Earl-street, on Monday, Nov. 21st, 1825, when the following resolution was adopted:

"That the funds of the society be applied to the printing and circulation of the canonical books of Scripture, to the exclusion of those books, and parts of books, which are usually termed Apocryphal; and that all copies printed, either entirely, or in part, at the expense of the society, and whether such copies consist of the whole, or of any one or more of such books, be invariably issued bound, no other books whatever being bound with them. And, further, that all money-grants to societies or individuals be made only in conformity with the principle of this regulation." This resolution, we hope, will set the question for ever at rest.

Probability of a Lunar Atmosphere. MR. EDITOR. SIR.-Independent of the reasonable inference that there exists a lunar atmosphere, from that satellite's analogy to our planet in other respects, as is observed by your correspondent T. C. in your last No. col. 1110, it appears to

H.

Advice to those who wear Spectacles.-Frequently lay them on a table, and see if the glasses are in the same plane with one another, by observing if they are parallel to the table. The silver frame often bends, and, if not restored to its just position, the sight will adapt itself to the diverging rays, and consequently; the eyes will become crooked in a slight degree.

Money-coining. The productive power of coining at the Mint, is greater than that of making one-pound notes. In case of emergency, half a million of sovereigns per day could be turned out of this prolific source. During the early months of 1825, above six millions have been coined; and two millions in the month of December alone. The year has also furnished from the Mint, eighteen millions of pieces for India, two millions of half crowns for Ireland, together with an amazing quantity of other silver and copper. Judging, therefore, from the activity of the Mint, we may rest assured that there is no want of the precious metals in England. Perhaps it is greater than at most former periods.

Burmese State Carriage.-The Burmese state carriage, which was captured at an early period of the present sanguinary Indian war, has just reached this country, and is now publicly exbibited at the Egyptian Hall, Piccadilly, London. It is, without exception, one of the most splendid works of art that can possibly be conceived, presenting an entire blaze of gold, silver, and precious stones. Of the latter, the number must amount to many thousands; comprehending diamonds, rubies, sapphires white and blue, emeralds, amethysts, garnets, topaz, cats' eyes, crystals, &c. &c. The carving is of a very superior description; the form and construction of the vehicle extraordinary, and the general taste displayed throughout the whole design, is at once so grand and imposing, yet, at the same time, so chaste and refined, as to defy all rivalry, even from European workmanship. The warlike power and resources of this surprising people are at present exciting universal astonishment and attention. This new object attests the fact, that in taste for design, and skill in the execution of works of art, their talents have been no less hidden and unknown to us. The carriage stands between twenty and thirty feet in height, and was drawn by elephants.

Mosaic Gold.-About twenty years ago, a person named Hamilton, reading in the book of Judges of a metal "more precious than gold," set himself to discover this valuable article; and after the researches and experiments of nineteen years, he now announces the discovery. It is said to be susceptible of a higher polish than gold itself, and is not so liable to be tarnished by an exposure to the atmosphere. In colour and ductility, it is not inferior, but in weight it falls short. It is secured by patent, and can be sold in the ingot for twopence per ounce.

Rein Deer.-In the autumn of 1823, Mr. Bullock imported five rein deer into this country, They were fed with moss, their natural food. and also a Laplander to attend upon them. In the April following, one died, and soon after two others shared in their fate. During the last

autumn the others have also died, so that the experiment of raising the breed in this country has totally failed. Some were sent to Ireland, where the attempt has proved equally unsuccessful.

Dr. Jenner.-In Gloucester Cathedral a monument has been erected to the memory of this celebrated individual. It simply contains his name and the time of his birth and death.

La Perouse.-The French are fitting out an expedition to explore the South Seas; and, from circumstances lately brought to light, with some hope of being able to discover some traces of La Perouse, whose fate still remains involved in almost impenetrable mystery.

Stone Coffins.-Beneath the floor of the Cathedral of St. Magnes Orkney, two stone coffins were lately discovered, one of which contained human bones. They bear no inscriptions; but as this mode of interment has not been practised for many hundreds of years, they must be of very great antiquity.

Derbyshire Caverns.-In the bigh Peak of this interesting county, a discovery has recently been made, of a series of caverns, which were not previously known to exist.

General Elliot.-To the memory of this distinguished officer, who nearly annihilated the power of Spain in his gallant defence of Gibraltar, a monument has lately been erected in the cathedral of St. Paul's. Lord Heathfield is a title which adds nothing to his name.

To Clean Black Silks.-To bullock's gall add boiling water sufficient to make it warm, and with a clean sponge rub the silk well on both sides; squeeze it well out, and proceed again in like manner. Rinse in spring water, and change the water till perfectly clean; dry it in the air, and pin it out on a table.

A new Plough.-A farmer in Moravia has invented a new plough, which although drawn by only one horse, produces four furrows. The Agricultural Society of that country have presented him with a gold medal.