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heine, one of the Society Islands, and Rorotagna, one of the Harvey group, have constructed under the superintendence of the missionaries, two vessels, chiefly of native materials, and capable of navigating the open seas. These vessels will enable the missionaries to visit the various islands, and hold intercourse with the native teachers.

Hot Air for Furnaces.-The blast fur naces at the Clyde Iron Works, are supplied with hot air, the saving caused by which is stated to be very great. The air is heated rather beyond the point of boiling water; but a higher temperature, it is thought, might be employed with advantage.

Platinum Thread.-Dr. Wollaston, it is observed in Dr. Lardner's Cyclopædia, obtained very fine wire for the object glass of his telescopes for observing the relative places of the stars, by inserting a platina wire in a cylinder of silver, wiredrawing the whole, and then melting the silver coating. Silver wire may be drawn to a three-hundredth of an inch diameter; so that if the platina wire was originally one-tenth of the thickness of the silver, it now becomes only a three-thousandth of an inch. Dr. Wollaston procured some only an eighteenth-thousandth, which did not intercept the smallest star. A piece of platinum, of the size of the tip of a man's finger, would stretch out across Europe. Yet what is this to the minuteness exhibited in some of the works of creation? Animalcules have been discovered, whose magnitude is such, that a million of them does not exceed the bulk of a grain of sand; and yet each of these creatures is composed of members as curiously organized as those of the largest species; they have life and spontaneous motion, and are endued with sense and instinct. These creatures have heart, arteries, veins, muscles, sinews, tendons, nerves, circulating fluids, and all the concomitant apparatus of a living organized body.

Fossil Elk.-Dr. Hibbert has endeavoured to prove that that remarkable animal, the fossil elk of Ireland, known only by its bones and horns, found among the fossilized bones of ancient extinct animals, actually existed in Europe as late as the sixteenth century. His argument is an account of an animal stated to be found in the recesses of the forests of Prussia, in a scarce work by Munster, printed in the year 1550, with a curious portrait of the animal, the horns of which certainly resemble those of the fossil elk; but whether they are identical, and whether Munster's plate may not be fabulous,

or at least exaggerated, we leave to the inquiries of geological naturalists.

Spots in the Sun.-M. Arago is diligently registering observations upon spots in the sun, with a view to verify the truth of M. Herschell's hypothesis, that spots are the result of active incandescence; in proof of which it is urged, that the crops in England are uniformly more abundant when there are numerous spots upon the

sun.

A memoir was lately read at the Academy of Sciences, recommending as the best and cheapest way of cleaning the black crust from old stone buildings, to wash them with weak diluted muriatick acid.

New Greek Testament.-The first volume in quarto, of the long announced, and by biblical scholars ardently expected, edition of the Greek Testament, with various readings, collected by the learned Dr. J. Martin Augustin Scholz, has just been published at Bonn, upon the Rhine. Ten years have elapsed since this great work was announced. In that interval, Professor Scholz has travelled over the greater part of Europe, Greece, and Palestine, and visited Egypt for the purpose of collating manuscripts. The first volume, besides copious and learned prolegomena, contains the Four Gospels, with various readings, amounting to very many thousands, collected by preceding editors or by himself, besides those which are to be found in the various ancient versions, and in the writings of the fathers of the Christian church, and the acts of the early ecclesiastical councils. The total number of manuscripts collated amounts to six hundred and seventy-four, including Evangelisteria, or Lessons extracted from the Four Gospels. Of these, not fewer than three hundred and twenty-two have for the first time been collated by Dr. Scholz, who also recollated some of those which had been examined for various readings by or for preceding editors. When this stupendous undertaking (which is advancing as rapidly at the press as its nature will permit) shall be completed, more detailed account of its plan and exewe propose to lay before our readers a cution. At present it may suffice to state, for their satisfaction, that the result of Professor Scholz's labours, so far as they have proceeded, only tends to furnish an ther proof were wanting) of the integrity additional and irrefragable proof (if furwith which the New Testament has, by the Divine blessing, descended to our times.

Reliques.-Mr. Blanco White gives the following catalogue of the relicks which

form the most valuable possession of the clergy in the cathedral church at Seville: -A tooth of St. Christopher; an agate cup used at mass by Pope Clement, the immediate successor of St. Peter; an arm of St. Bartholomew; a head of one of the eleven hundred virgins; portions of the body of St. Peter, St. Lawrence, St. Blaise, St. Servandus, Germanus, and St. Florentius; the Alphonsine tables, containing three hundred relicks; a silver bust of St. Leander, with his bones; a thorn from our Saviour's crown; and a fragment of the true cross.

African Discoveries.-The missionaries of the Church Missionary Society in Egypt and Abyssinia have discovered, in the interior of Africa, a tribe, called the Magagine, which has never been visited by any European. They inhabit a place called Darbia, 300 miles south-west of Darfur. They have suffered greatly from the slave-traders of Darfur; their chief protection against whom is a natural fortification, a steep and lofty mountain, which if they can reach in time, they are safe from their pursuers. They do not materially suffer from want in that asylum, having good fountains and pasturage for their cattle. The siege of the mountain lasts sometimes for several months. The abodes of the people are usually pulled down by their enemies; but they do not think much of the trouble of building other houses of mud and stones in place of their former abodes. Nobody claims a property of soil, and every one culti vates as much ground as he pleases. The Magagine are a free people, and appreciate liberty as the greatest blessing. Slavery, therefore, is to them the greatest horror and abomination. Their liberty, however, is not without order and discipline. They have good and just laws, not many, according to which dif ferences are adjusted. They have a headman, whom they obey: trifling quarrels are never referred to the judge, but are

settled by the parties in single combat. They have an idea of a God, and believe that every person receives reward or punishment according to his merits, after this life. They have a notion of the existence of the devil. The history of the deluge is preserved in their traditions; but they believe that every living creature perished in that awful calamity, and that God created altogether new beings after the deluge. Good angels are considered as the guardians of good people. Their mode of worship appears to be simple, and is free from obscene practices; but they are still Pagans. They take great care of their children, and teach them early to obey and reverence their parents, and aged people. Their language is unknown. We heartily join in the prayer of the missionaries, that it would please God to enlighten this and all the other tribes of Africa, with the light of his blessed Gospel, and prosper the labours of his servants among them.

Gelatine Biscuits.-The French expedition against Algiers is provided with 200,000 of this new article, which have been prepared under the care of M. D'Arcet, the inventor. On disembarkation, every soldier is to receive ten of these biscuits, which are equal to five rations, and form a nutritive as well as a pleasant food. D'Arcet makes use of every part of the bullock in the manufacture of this article-the meat is converted into three kinds, biscuits au boillou, biscuits a la febrine, and graisse, well seasoned. The bones after they have been deprived of their nutritive matter, and reduced into a mere calcareous state, constitute the only residue. The provisioning of a whole army is, by this excellent method, placed beyond the hazards of war, and rendered more easy and less costly of transport, than any other portion of its composition, whether animate or inanimate.

Keligious Intelligence.

EXTRACTS FROM THE MINUTES OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

(Continued from p. 369.) ·

The committee appointed to count the votes for delegates to the several ecclesiastical bodies, holding correspondence with the Assembly, reported, and the following persons were declared duly elected, viz.

The Rev. William A. M'Dowell, D. D. the Rev. George C. Beckwith, and the Rev. Obadiah Jennings, to attend the General Association of Connecticut:

The Rev. William A. M'Dowell, D. D. and the Rev, George C. Beckwith, to attend the General Association of Massachusetts; and the Rev. Obadiah Jennings, to be the alternate to either of them who may fail:

The Rev. Ebenezer Dickey, D.D. to

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The Rev. Archibald Alexander, D. D. and Mr. Samuel Bayard, Ruling Elder, to attend the General Synod of the Reformed Dutch Church; and the Rev. James Carnahan, D. D., and Mr. Obadiah Woodruff, Ruling Elder, to be their alternates: The Rev. Ezra S. Ely, D.D., and the Rev. James M. Brown, to attend the Synod of the German Reformed church; and the Rev. Matthew L. Fullerton, and the Rev. Robert Cathcart, D. D. to be their alternates.

The Board of Missions informed the Assembly that there would be a publick meeting on Thursday evening next, in the First Presbyterian church, at which time parts of the report of said Board would be read, and addresses made in favour of the objects of the Board.

The sacrament of the Lord's supper was administered yesterday afternoon, at 5 o'clock, in the First Presbyterian church, to the Members of the General Assembly, and other ministers and members of churches, agreeably to the plan of the committee of arrangements.

The committee appointed by the General Assembly of 1829, to consider and report to the Assembly of 1830, on the manner in which ministers and licentiates are to be received into any of our Presbyteries from ecclesiastical bodies in the United States, which correspond with this General Assembly, made the following report, which was adopted, viz:

:

That in their judgment every licentiate coming by certificate to any Presbytery in connexion with the General Assembly from any portion of a corresponding ecclesiastical body, should be required to answer in the affirmative, the constitution al questions, directed by chapter XIV. of our form of government to be put to our own candidates, before they are licensed and that in like manner every ordained minister of the gospel, coming from any church in correspondence with the General Assembly, by certificate of dismission and recommendation, should be required to answer affirmatively the first seven questions directed by chapter XV. of our form of government, to be put to one of our own licentiates when about to be or dained to the sacred office.

The course which is thus recommended by the committee, they believe has been generally practised by our Presbyteries; and the propriety of admitting strangers

VOL. VIII.-Ch. Adv.

into our connexion on other terms than our own licentiates and ministers, is too obvious to require remark. It is the assent of licentiates and ministers to these questions which brings them under the watch and care of the Presbyteries which receive them, and without which they ought not to enjoy the privileges of preachers of the gospel in our ecclesiastical connexion.

The committee to whom was referred the communication from the General Synod of the Reformed Dutch church, made the following report, which was adopted, viz:

That they have carefully considered the subject referred to them, and have come to the conclusion, that this Assembly should concur in the resolution proposed by that Synod. The committee deem the resolution just, and proper in itself, and well calculated to preserve the harmony which at present happily exists between the two bodies.

They would, therefore, recommend that the article proposed to be added to the present articles of correspondence between the two churches, be adopted, in the words following, viz.

"That none of the inferior judicatories under the care of the corresponding churches, shall be at liberty to admit into their respective bodies, or under their care, any student or licentiate from their sister church, without a regular dismission from the ecclesiastical body, or Theologi cal Seminary, to which he is considered as attached."

The committee to whom was referred, by the last General Assembly, the memorial of the West Lexington Presbytery, made the following report, which was adopted, viz:

That the said memorial sets forth the evils which in the opinion of the memorialists, threaten the church from the operation of numerous Theological Semina ries existing independently of the General Assembly, and adopting different systems of government, and different courses of study. To counteract these evils it proposes, that the General Assembly, should take all the Theological Seminaries throughout our bounds, under its immediate and absolute control, and prescribe a course of study which shall be uniform in them all.

Your

These are the prominent points of the memorial under consideration. committee are ready to acknowledge, that there are evils of a very formidable character, which are likely to arise from the indefinite multiplication of Theologi. cal Seminaries, under the care of a single Synod or Presbytery. They fear, that the standard of Theological education, in the

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Presbyterian church, will ultimately fall far below that maintained in some other christian denominations, and thus the respectability and usefulness of our clergy, be greatly impaired. They believe, also, that much good, that might have resulted from having a larger portion of our young men brought into personal acquaintance with each other, and educated upon the same plan, must now be lost; and that we must content ourselves with less of harmony of feeling, and unity of sentiment than might, under other circumstances, have been secured. Believing, however, that it is perfectly competent to every Presbytery or Synod, to adopt what plan they may think best, not inconsistent with the Constitution of the Church, for the education of their own young men; and finding that the Assembly has long sanctioned their so doing, your committee are of opinion that this subject is not within the rightful jurisdiction of the General Assembly; and that even if it were, it would under existing circumstances, be highly inexpedient to adopt the course proposed by the memorialists. They therefore beg to be discharged from the further consideration of the subject.

Thursday, May 27th, 9 o'clock A. M. The Assembly met and was constituted with prayer.

The minutes of the last session were read.

Yesterday was spent by the Assembly in religious exercises, agreeably to the plan reported by the committee of arrangements. At 10 o'clock, the Assembly convened in their usual place of meeting, and spent the time until 1 o'clock, in prayer, praise, reading the Scriptures, and exhortation. At 4 o'clock, P. M. the Assembly met in the First Presbyterian church, with the congregation assembled. The exercises were conducted in a manner similar to those of the morning. The day was one of great interest and solemnity.

The Board of Directors of the Union Theological Seminary, presented their annual report which was read, and ordered to be printed in the appendix to the minutes.

The committee on mileage reported, that the number of miles to Philadelphia, travelled by the commissioners, who wish to draw from the commissioners' fund is 37,109; that the commissioners' fund this year, as reported by the Treasurer, is $1,869.82, which affords five cents per

mile.

The committee to whom was recommitted the report on Overture No. IX., made the following report, which was adopt ed, viz.

In answer to the questions propounded

by the Presbyteries of Union and French Board, the Assembly would say, that though they do not recognise in the Board of Missions the authority to sit in judgment upon the orthodoxy or morality of any minister who is in good standing in his own Presbytery; yet, from the necessity of the case, they must exercise their own sound discretion upon the expediency or inexpediency of appointing or withholding an appointment, from any applicant, holding themselves amenable to the General Assembly for all their official acts.

The committee appointed to count the votes for Directors of the Theological Seminary at Princeton, reported: when it appeared that the following persons are duly elected Directors for three years,

viz.

Ministers,-Ashbel Green, D. D.; John M'Dowell, D. D.; William Neill, D. D.; Ezra S. Ely, D. D.; Henry R. Weed; William D. Snodgrass; and Joshua T. Russell.

Elders, Samuel Bayard; Samuel Boyd; and Benjamin Strong.

The judicial committee to whom was recommitted the appeal of the church of Bergen, made the following report which was adopted, viz.

They recommend that said appeal be dismissed, on the ground that the only paper which appears to be intended as an appeal, is without date or signature, or evidence that it was ever before the Synod of Genesee, or lodged with the moderator of said Synod.

The Stated Clerk reported that he had, agreeably to instructions of the last Assembly, distributed gratuitously among the more remote and destitute churches, a number of copies of the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church, equal to the amount of income from the publication of said Constitution.

The report containing the detail of this distribution, was directed to be put upon the files of the Assembly.

(To be continued.)

The Declaration and Memorial of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, respecting persecution on account of Religious Opinions, especially in Switzerland.

Whereas it has been represented to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of North America, on the testimony of a well known and much respected clergyman, who was an eye witness, as well as on evidence arising from other sources,

that, in the cantons of Berne and Vaud, in Switzerland, a number of persons, who have, on conscientious principles, separated themselves from the church established by law, are exposed to many grievous hardships, and even to cruel persecution, without the allegation against them of any immoral conduct, or any violation of the merely civil laws of those cantons, but solely on the ground of their separation from the established church; and that thus the affecting spectacle has been exhibited to the world of protestants persecuting protestants, on account of differences in religious opinion:

And, whereas, the Presbyterian Church in the United States, and the Protestant Churches in Switzerland, have derived their religious doctrines from the Holy Scriptures, through the instrumentality of the same great reformers, of blessed memory, so that this General Assembly can not but feel a most lively interest in all that concerns the honour and prosperity of their protestant brethren in Switzer

land:

And, furthermore, because the Presby. terian Church in the United States, under the ordering of a benign and gracious providence, know by experience the inestimable value of perfect religious liberty, and are fully justified, while in the enjoyment of this blessing, in testifying to their brethren in other nations, and to the world, their full conviction, as well as the results of their experience on the subject;

Therefore, Resolved, 1. That this General Assembly do most firmly hold and maintain, that it is the undeniable right of all men to worship the Creator according to the dictates of their own conscience.

2. That they regard every attempt to restrain this right, not only as contrary to the spirit of the gospel, but ineffectual for the promotion of genuine piety, or the prevention of diversities in religious opi

nion.

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tained in the foregoing declaration, and wishing to commend them to the attentive consideration of their brethren in Switzerland, feel constrained to address to them the following Memorial.

To the Reverend, the Pastors of the esta blished Churches of the Cantons of Berne and Vaud, in Switzerland, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of North America, wish prosperity and peace in our common Lord.

Brethren,-The holy scriptures command that every man should look not on his own things only, but also on the things of others. In obedience to this command, and in the spirit of true Christian love, the Protestant churches did, in the time of the glorious reformation, often afford assistance and counsel one to the other: and when the adherents of the Pope of Rome endeavoured, by the exercise of civil and ecclesiastical power united, to suppress the truth, the noble and powerful Canton of Berne did frequently interpose to sustain the cause of religious liberty: and you, brethren, have become inheritors of the glory which your forefathers acquired by the display of exemplary Christian benevolence, and of admirable valour connected with fervent piety.

The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States take the most lively interest in every thing which concerns their Protestant brethren throughout the world: and they do especially cherish a fraternal regard towards those who dwell in Switzerland; a coun try always associated in their minds with heroick achievements in the defence of freedom. They have, therefore, with grief and surprise, heard that brethren, to whose charge nothing could be laid, except that they have conscientiously separated from the established church, are oppressed and persecuted by the authorities of the cantons of Berne and Vaud.

The General Assembly, while they maintain that the civil magistrate may and ought to punish all immoralities which violate the law and order of society, and that it is not only the right, but the duty of churches, to exercise ecclesiastical discipline, according to the rules prescribed by Jesus Christ, for preserving purity of doctrine, worship and morals, cannot but represent to the reverend pastors of Berne and Vaud, that our Almighty Creator is the only lord of conscience; and that, in his holy word he has given no authority to any man, or body of men, to control its dictates in regard to his sacred worship.

It is, moreover, believed to be both unjust and unwise to restrain men from offering their homage to the Sovereign of the

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