the other he will wish to be a devout Christian, even if he should never live to become a deep biblical scholar. The practical study of the Scriptures, whether by the rich or the poor, by the learned or the ignorant, cannot be safely delayed a single hour. The student may, for good reason, postpone the immediate application of his powers to the peculiar studies of his profession; but if in the mean time, as ought always to be the case, he is diligently reading the Scriptures for the ordinary purposes of devotion, how absurd is it to bring forward his example as a proof that the latter may be safely postponed! for it is to the latter only that the case of the poor man can have any possible reference. The chief error, and that which is at the foundation of all our author's reasoning in the concluding pages of his discourse, is the not distinguishing between sacred and merely intellectual wisdom. We shall give one extract, and but one extract more, in proof of our remark. "It might, indeed, be absurd to cul tivate with much attention the intellectual powers of the labourer and of the artizan, if their present humble occupations were the only characters in which they were destined ever to appear. But the time, we know, is fast approaching, when that very labourer, and that very artizan, whose minds you now think it ridiculous to cultivate, shall throw off the mortal slough, shall burst the material shell, with which they are now enveloped, and fly away on angels' wings toward heaven.-Would you then, in the education of an everlasting creature, regard only the very first stage of his existence?-As well might you confine yourself in the tuition of your child, to the use of his gewgaws and his toys, as overlook, in the instruction of immortal man, that eternal state, into which he is soon to be translated, to abide in it for ever. "And how can he ever become a fit inha bitant of the glorious mansions that are above, if his faculties, in this probationary world, remain, from want of culture, in a state of darkness and torpidity? Heaven is the region of light as well as of love; it is our duty therefore, here, to qualify ourselves, for an eternal residence where both these properties equally prevail. And as the malevolent spirit would be incapable of enjoying the benign felicities that are promised to the righ teous; so that soul, which, during its mortal existence, has been constantly benighted with the gloom of ignorance, would feel its intellectual sight painfully dazzled with the bright radiance of celestial day. How should such a spirit ever be able to contem plate the whole of the vast system of the Universe, which will then, in a mo. ment be presented to its view?-the worlds unnumbered that revolve around the throne of God?-How should it comprehend the wonders of Nature, the mysteries of Providence, the miracles of Grace? "But cannot the Almighty give us, in a moment, the wisdom necessary for the enjoyment of those realms of light?Yes; and He can, if he will, give us the necessary virtue too. And yet he has placed us in this our state of trial, that we might ourselves study to acquire those habits of holiness which will make us fit to be partakers with his saints and angels in light and love.Why then is it not our duty here to cultivate the understanding as well as to improve the heart?" Matthew, pp. 32-34, In the whole of this extraordinary passage, it is assumed, that the cultivation of the intellect fits us for the intellectual enjoyment of heaven in the same way as spiritual culture fits us for its spiritual enjoyment. We cannot conceive of an hypothesis more gross as well as unphilosophical; more derogatory to the exalted ideas which we ought to possess of a glorified state as well as more inconsistent with the general analogy of Scripture and of faith. had always imagined, that in a future world the child and the aged man, the illiterate and the learned, would find the mortifying disproportion in their intellectual attain ments done away; and that, provided they were equal in a religious point of view, they would have no reason to say that in heaven a Newton himself was more exalted in knowledge than the glorified spirit We of the most untutored Christian. We would not, any more than our author, "regard in the education of an everlasting creature only the very first stage of his existence :" we would even give him every intellectual improvement in our power; but in so doing, we should not imagine that we in any way improved his eternal condition except in proportion as the cultivation of his understanding was connected with the renovation and sanctification of his heart. We allow with Mr. Matthew, that heaven is the region" of light as well as love;" but we cannot conceive, that on that account, the cultivation of our mental powers, or the learning Latin and Greek, has any necessary tendency to "qualify us for that eternal residence." We humbly imagine that the soul of a true believer, however "benighted during its mortal existence with the gloom of ignorance," would not be more "painfully dazzled with the bright radiance of celestial day" than that of the most learned divine. Mr. Matthew's system would go far to prove that no illiterate man ever arrived at heaven, or at least was qualified for admission. We shall not attempt gravely to cope with the false theology and incorrectness of argument exhibited throughout these concluding pages; but, leaving them to their own refutation, shall take our leave of Mr. Matthew with an expression of regret that any clergyman should preach, or any committee publish, such a discourse. &c.; and from it we shall extract, by way of conclusion, two or three paragraphs. "It was before the District Committee of the Bartlett's Buildings' Society that Mr. Matthew preached, and at its request that he published the Sermon entitled, "The Churchman dissuaded from becoming a Member of the Bible Society, and the Extent defended to which Education is carried in the Schools of our Church." The unsuitableness of such a subject to such an occasion will immediately strike you. What! did that venerable and meritorious Society furnish such scanty materials for its preacher, that he must travel entirely out of his record, and compose his sermon of an attack on another Society, and a vindication of a third? Or was not Mr. M. aware that some of the most efficient supporters of the Bartlett's Buildings' Society in the kingdom at large, in the county audience, were decided, cordial, and of Somerset, and perhaps in his very zealous friends of the Bible Society? If the various objects within the scope of the Society which he stood up to advocate did not furnish him a field sufficiently wide for expatiating in, might not its vindication [against some recent charges] have possibly occupied him even more than the time allowed to a pul"In whatever light the pit exercise?" circumstance is viewed, can the choice of such subjects for his sermon be considered otherwise than as a reflection upon the Society he was appointed to preach for?" pp. 7, 8. "What a delightful contrast to the doctrine of Mr. M. does our Church in her formularies present before the humble inquirer after Divine truth! With what pleasure I refer you, my friend, to the first of the Homilies, written by the Church declares in her Articles, the martyred Cranmer-Homilies which and never did the declaration appear so just as it does now-to be necessary for these times. Does that most instructive and authoritative composition on the reading of the holy Scriptures, represent them, as Mr. Matthew does, the source of difficulty and of error, only to be understood by the disciplined and cultivated intellect? This very position the Church thus sets berself to controvert:-" They that have no good affection to God's word, pretend that the difficulty to understand it, and the hardness 4 A thereof, is so great, that it must be read only by clerks and learned men. Yet he that is so weak that he is not able to bear strong meat, may suck the sweet and tender milk, and defer the rest until he wax stronger, and come to more knowledge: for God receivcth the learned and unlearned, and casteth away none, but is indifferent to all. And the Scripture is full, as well of low valleys, plain ways, and easy for every man to use and to walk in, as also of high hills and mountains, which few men can climb into. And whosoever giveth his mind to holy Scriptures with diligent study and burning desire, it cannot be, saith St. Chrysostom, that he should be left without help. It is not man's human and worldly wisdom, or science, that is needful to the under standing of Scripture, but the revelation of the Holy Ghost, who inspireth the true meaning into them that, with humility and diligence, do search therefor. Although many things,' as St. Augustine saith, he spoken in the Scripture in obscure mysteries, yet there is nothing spoken under dark mysteries in one place, but the self-same thing, in other places, is spoken more famiHiarly and plainly, to the capacity both of learned and unlearned.' And, briefly to conclude, as St. Augustine saith, By the Scripture all men be amended, weak men be strengthened, and strong men be comforted. So that surely none be enemies to the reading of God's word, but such as either be so ignorant, that they know not how wholesome a thing it is, or else be so sick, that they hate the most comfortable medicine that should heal them; or so ungodly, that they would wish the people still to continue in blindness and ignorance of God." pp. 27-29. "I cannot resist a temptation to transcribe a passage from another Homily. The great utility and profit that Christian men may take, if they will, by hearing and reading the holy Scriptures, no heart can sufficiently conceive, much less is any tongue able with words to express. Wherefore Satan, our enemy, seeing the Scriptures to be the very mean and right way to bring the people to the true knowledge of God; and that Christian religion is greatly furthered by hearing and reading of them; he also perceiving what an hinderance and let they be to him and his kingdom, doth what he can to drive the reading of them out of God's church. And for that end he hath always stirred up, in one place or other, cruel tyrants, sharp persecutors, and extreme enemies unto God and his infallible truth, to pull with violence the holy Bible out of the people's hands, pretending most untruly that the much hearing and reading of God's word is an occasion of heresy and carnal liberty.-Let every man, woman, and child, therefore, with all their hearts, thirst, and desire God's holy Scriptures; love them, embrace them, have their delight and pleasure in hearing and reading them. For the holy Scriptures are God's treasure-house, wherein are found all things needful for us to see, to hear, to learn, and to believe necessary for the attaining of eternal life. Thus much is spoken only to give you a taste of some of the commodities which ye may take by hearing and reading the holy Scriptures. For, as I said in the beginning, No tongue is able to declare and utter all.' "It is impossible, my friend, to read these passages, and not to feel what side our Reformers, had they been living amongst us, would have taken in this controversy; or rather, how zealously they would have concurred in the operations of the Bible Society; and how triumphantly their glorified spirits exult, even now, in its successes." pp. 20, 30. LITERARY AND PHILOSOPHICAL INTELLIGENCE, &c. &c. GREAT BRITAIN. PREPARING for publication:-An Introduction to the Critical Study and Knowledge of the Holy Scriptures; by Mr. T. H. Horne;-A Peerage of the United Kingdom, from the earliest Records; by Dr. Blake of Weymouth;-The Sceptic; an Inquiry concerning the proper Objects of Philosophy, and the best Mode of conducting Philosophical Researches; Philosophical Researches con cerning the lower Animals; and Memoirs of the public and private Life of the Right Hon. George Ponsonby; all by Dr. Roche;-Travels from Vienna through Lower Hungary; by Dr. Ri chard Bright;-A translation of Professor Orfila's Elementary Treatise of Chemistry;-Collections towards a Biographical Account of the late Duke of Northumberland; by Mr. J. Norris Brewer;- Elements of History and Geography; by Rev. J. Joyce;-Memoirs and Correspondence of the late Mrs. Elizabeth Hamilton;-The Poetical Remains and Memoirs of the late John Leyden, M. D.;-and Letters on English History, by Mr. Bigland. The discussion, which has for some time been carried on between the Rev. R. Tweddell and the Earl of Elgin respecting the disappearance of the late Mr. Tweddell's Manuscripts and Drawings, is fresh in the recollection of our readers. We have given a brief view of the statements on both sides: and it seems unnecessary to enter farther into the controversy than to notice the result of it. In the “ Addenda to Tweddell's Remains," was a letter from Mr. Hamilton, intimating the intention of Lord Elgin to collect and send to London all the drawings of Turkish costumes then in his possession at Broomhall, which might possibly come under the description of those supposed to have been received from the wreck of Mr. Tweddell's property, not without the hope that the originals might have been preserved among his lordship's papers. The letter mentions further the arrival in London of a box, said to contain those drawings, and invites Mr. R. Tweddell either to attend in person at the opening of it, or to request that favour from some friend, in whose judgment and honour he could confide. The proposed examination was at length made by Mr. Hamilton, Mr. Heys, and Mr. Moore. The following is the account given by the two latter gentlemen, of what passed on the occasion. "Minutes of the Examination. “ At a meeting holden by appointment, at the Foreign Office in Downingstreet, on the 7th of November, 1816, "Mr. Heys and Mr. Moore produced a box, containing sixty-seven drawings of costumes, chiefly Turkish, which they stated to be copies taken for Mr. Nisbet, at Naples, from originals belonging to the late Mr. John Tweddell; which originals had been brought home by Mr. Nisbet from Constantinople, and returned into the possession of Lord Elgin. "Mr. Hamilton produced two corded boxes, of different sizes, which he stated had been sent to him by Lord Elgin from Broomhall, in order that their contents might be examined by some one on the part of Mr. Robert Tweddelt. "The smaller of the two boxes produced by Mr. Hamilton, contained ninetyeight drawings of costumes, chiefly Turkish, and of some from other parts of the Levant, the East, and Egypt; and fourteen other drawings or sketches of figures, chiefly Swiss. At the bottom of each of the ninety-eight drawings, there was the Turkish name, and also a short explanation in French, of the figure represented, all in the late Mr. John Tweddell's handwriting. Sixty of these were evidently the originals, from which the same number of copies, contained in Mr. Nisbet's box, had been taken; but the boxes produced by Mr. Hamilton contained no originals, from which the remaining seven of Mr. Nisbet's drawings had been copied. There were, however, thirtyeight drawings in this box, of which there were no copies in Mr. Nisbet's box. "The ninety-eight drawings of costumes, all having the late Mr. John Tweddell's hand.writing at the bottom, were admitted, without hesitation, to have belonged to him; and the parties. present all thinking it probable that the remaining fourteen drawings or sketches (being found in the same box, and representing the costumes, &c. of countries which he had visited), had belonged to him also, this box, with all its contents, as above described, was delivered by Mr. Hamilton to Mr. Heys and Mr. Moore, for the use of Mr. Robert Tweddell." The larger box was then opened; but from various circumstances it was thought apparent that the drawings contained in it could not have formed any part of Mr. John Tweddell's collection, and therefore this larger box and its confor Lord Elgin. tents were retained by Mr. Hamilton The foregoing statement is extracted from a publication by the Rev. R. Tweddell, entitled "The Elgin Box," from which, also, we copy the following notes. "The late Mr. John Tweddell's collections comprised between three and four hundred drawings, many of them highly finished: such especially were the architectural delineations of Athens and other remains in Greece, which were also of large dimensions: of these last, and by far the most valuable pro ductions, it is proper to be noted, that not a single specimen is forthcoming; whilst the whole number of drawings now restored amount only to one hun dred and twelve "The whole of Mr. Tweddell's MSS. are still unaccounted for. Those MSS. comprised the journals of Switzerland and the Crimea, (the former in a state of preparation for the press,) with the fruit of three years and a half of unre. mitted application to every object of curiosity that had come before him.' No part of these 'voluminous' papers has yet come to light." Professor Moricchini, of Rome, having discovered the magnetising power of the violet rays of the prismatic spectrum, the Marquis Ridolfi has succeeded in magnetising two needles, the one in thirty, the other in forty-six minutes; and can now charge with the magnetic power, by the same process, as many needles as he pleases. The needles thus magnetised (namely, by directing on and passing over them, for a period of not less than thirty minutes, the violet rays of the spectrum, through the medium of a condensing lens,) possess all the energy and the properties of needles magnetised in the common way by means of a loadstone. Their homonomous poles repel, while the heteronomous poles attract each other: and, made to vibrate on a pivot, their point turns constantly to the north, their heads to the south. This adds greatly to the wonders of magnetism, and must be regarded as a very extraordinary discovery. In some observations on the great comet of 1811, by M. Schroeter, he computes that the length of the tail of the comet was 13,185,200 geographic miles. Chimney-sweeping. Our readers are aware, that for some time past humane endeavours have been made in various quarters for abolishing the present cruel and unnecessary mode of sweeping chimnies. Among other efforts a numerous and highly respectable meeting was lately convened at Free-masons' Hall, to petition Parliament for a redress of the grievance. A Report of the Select Committee, appointed by the House of Commons to examine into the subject, has been published, from which we proceed to give a few extracts." Your Committee find, that in the year 1788 an Act of Parliament was passed, for the better regulation of Chimney Sweepers and their Apprentices, to the preamble of which they wish to direct the attention of the House, Whereas the laws now in being, respecting masters and apprentices, do not provide sufficient regulations, so as to prevent various complicated miseries to which boys employed in climbing and cleans ing of chimnies are liable, beyond any other employment whatsoever in which boyɛ of tender years are engaged: and whereas the misery of the said boys might be much alleviated, if some legal powers and authorities were given for the regulation of chimney-sweepers and their apprentices.' Though this Act has in some respects fulfilled the intention of the Legislature, yet your Committee have heard in evidence before them, that its principal enacting clausenamely, the regulating the age at which apprentices shall be taken-is constantly evaded ; and they are decidedly of opinion, that the various and complicated miseries to which the unfortunate children are exposed, cannot be relieved by regulations. The 28th of Geo. III. enacts, That no per. son shall employ any boy, in the nature of an apprentice or servant, under the age of eight years; yet your committee have been informed, that infants of the early ages of four, five, and six years, have been employed, it being the prac tice for parents to sell their children to this trade, over-stating their age; besides, this clause is not considered by the master chimney sweepers as pro hibiting their employment of their own children. Your Committee refer generally to the evidence for proofs of the ill-usage, and the peculiar hardships that cruelties that are practised, and of the are the lot of the wretched children who are employed in this trade. It is in evidence that they are stolen from their parents, and inveigled out of workhouses; that in order to conquer the natural repugnance of the infants to ascend the narrow and dangerous chimnies, to clean which their labour is required, blows are used; and pins are forced into their feet by the boy that follows them up the chimney, in order to compel them to ascend it; and that lighted straw has been applied for that purpose: that the children are subject to sores and bruises, and wounds and burns on their thighs, knees, and elbows; and that it will require many months before the extremities of the elbows and knees become sufficiently hard to resist the excoriations to which they are at first subject; and that one of the masters being asked if those |