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ing, by aid of the same power, the order and laws of nature, we are only fulfilling one of the apparent designs with which reason and the external senses were given to us.

Should your correspondent continue of opinion, that a perfect essay on natural theology is still a desideratum, it would be well if he took the matter in hand himself, using the treatises above-mentioned as text books, and pointing out and remedying their deficiencies and mistakes. The world has received them not without exception*, but their authors have at least gone over much of the debatable land; and any new attempt should commence where they have left off. There can be few higher or more delightful employments than that of tracing, from our present vantageground, the constant agreement of natural and revealed religion; and as all conviction, to be of any value, must begin with doubt, we should ever temper with charity our thoughts of those who, in preceding us, found themselves involved in clouds and shadows, were misled by prejudices, and have by their fate furnished us with salutary warnings.

To proceed with the German controversy, commencing with the subject of geology, Dr. Bretschneider declares the mathematical" impossibility of a general deluge, because we know the causes of the tides; and his opponent, instead of satisfying himself with the general answer, that the occasion warranted a suspension of the usual laws of nature, must resort to a "notoriously hypothetical" gush of water from the interior of this " strous ball," which by his account, is far less "mathematically impossible," than the production of water in dropsy! Here he runs a close parallel between the deluged world and a dropsical girl, who in his belief (unaware of cuticular absorption) actually called into existence 29 pounds of water

in the course of 24 hours.

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Dr. H. next endeavours to throw discredit on the whole subject of geology, because it is founded on facts collected on the mere surface of the globe. Had he bestowed a little study upon the elements of this science, he would have discovered, that the strata of the globe are not, as he supposes, concentric like the coats of an onion, but that in the course of the stupendous convulsions which it underwent, both before and after the creation of animated beings, those strata, to the depth of miles, have been up-turned and set on edge; so that, on the surface, we can survey the earth's interior to a depth quite sufficient for the purposes of that science which he undervalues only because he will not take the trouble to under. stand it. Had he devoted to this one subject the least thought, he would have discovered in this upturning of the mineral riches of the earth, without which man never could have attained his present civilization, and in the consequent beautiful alternation of mountain and valley, without which nature would have lost half her charms, and animated beings their sustenance-ample cause to alter his opinion of the sources and results of geological knowledge.

His ignorance of the universality of formations induces him also to allege, that no geological truth can be considered as established, because the whole surface of the earth has not been geologically explored; and his induction is of too diffident a character to permit his guessing, from the appearance of the former bed of the sea, presented to us in the stratification of rocks, what may be going on at the bottom of the present ocean, which to him therefore presents a geological blank, filled perhaps with hundreds of facts all hostile to the received theories.

The judgment of the eminent persons, who decided on the immediate distribution of the proposed task, among several of the most distinguished philosophers of the day, has been questioned; but the revival of the obsolete invective against science, in educated Prussia, repeated with applause in America, and in the capital of British India, goes far to justify their decision. The lapse of a century might fail to produce, in one writer, the force and perspicuity of PALEY with the mass of technical knowledge possessed by the authors of those treatises.

It may be thought incredible, that a German, the fellow countryman of geognosy, should, at the present day, refer to the circumstance of seashells being found on the tops of mountains as a proof of the deluge! Yet in page 10 of your January No. is this to be found. (Where did he get his story of skeletons of antediluvian horses falling down with the avalanches of the Himalayas at heights of 16,000 feet?) The bad spirit and recklessness of truth shewn in his next paragraph about meteoric stones induce me to pass it by without further notice.

Next comes a notable piece of misrepresentation. Dr. H. quotes the censures of Cuvier, Brogniart, and Humboldt, as if directed, not against the wild geological systems of Buffon, &c. which explained every thing synthetically, upon some preconceived hypothesis, but as if they were applied to the cautious, laborious, and candid analytical investigations of modern geologists. Whatever may be their differences on minor points, they are pretty well united respecting the doctrine of tertiary formations established within the last 20 years, which affords the chief evidences bearing upon the history of creation, and of which Cuvier himself was the great founder and expositor.

For further instances of special pleading and ignorance, I shall merely refer your readers to page 12 and its foot-note, and pass on to Dr. H.'s astronomical remarks, including, for reasons best known to himself, some arguments for the existence of a place of future punishment. Here I find only one specimen of reasoning; but he has contrived, to introduce into it, three blunders. First, he believes the pole of the equator to be intercepted by the polar star, which it never was, and, without the destruction of the present order of things, never will be; secondly, in ignorance of the effects of precession and nutation, he conceives that the lapse of six months would make no change in the celestial place of the equatorial pole. And thirdly, he writes as if the polar star were the only one without appreciable parallax*.

To Dr. Bretschneider's assertion, that the whole notion of an under world and a hell was destroyed by astronomy and geology, Dr. Hengstenberg can only answer, that if such a statement had ever before been made it must have been observed and answered by one or other of three such or thodox Christians as Copernicus, Kepler, and Newton. Had Dr. H. come prepared for his work by a perusal of some of the geological treatises published within the last ten years, he could have reminded his opponent, that the progress of recent discovery, the rapidly increasing heat perceived on descending into mines, the phenomena of volcanoes, particularly the absence of all signs of combustion in them, and a more general adoption of the Huttonian theory, have made philosophers nearly unanimous in believing that the interior of our globe, at no great depth from the surface, is in a state of fiery fusion, thus fearfully verifying, to the letter, the doctrines of the Old and New Testament.

February 10th, 1835.

D. B.

We are sorry to see an able writer, as D. B. evidently is, display so much of the spirit of fault-finding. Dr. H.'s letter does not profess to be a learned treatise; it is simply a lively and popular answer to popular objections, and, so far as they go, satisfactory enough. What harm can there be in asserting, that we have as yet but scratched the surface of the earth, or, that geology is still the most imperfect of the experimental sciences? And yet this, so far as regards geology, is the whole head and front of Dr. H.'s offending! But the three blunders' to which our correspondent here alludes, furnish a still more remarkable specimen of perverse and captious criticism. Dr. H. says, that the polar star is seen over the top of a certain spire on a certain day; that six months after, it is seen again over the top of the same spire, but that the earth is then 40,000,000 miles distant from its former place. Now what has this to do with the equatorial pole, or precession and nutation, or the parallax of other stars? Why simply, nothing at all! and there is not even the shadow of an excuse for fastening these blunders on poor Dr. H. Nevertheless, we shall be happy to hear from D. B. again, though we hope he will employ his talents more usefully. -Ev. DD 2

IX.-Journal of a Missionary Tour, by the Rev. Messrs.
Lacroix and Gogerly.

With the intention of visiting the western boundary of Bengál, and of preaching the Gospel, and distributing tracts in that direction, as far as the Bengáli language is spoken or understood, accompanied by the Rev. Messrs. Weitbrecht and Hæberlin of the Church Missionary Society, on the 6th of January, 1835, we commenced our journey, and at 7 P. M. pitched our tent at Kondogose, a village about 75 miles N. N. W. from Calcutta, and 10 miles W. S. W. from Burdwan. The evening being dark and cold, we had no opportunity of seeing and conversing with the people.

Jan. 7th. At 7 A. M. the thermometer stood at 46°-at noon 66°. After breakfast, we entered upon our work, and in four different places proclaimed the message of salvation to large and attentive congregations, and distributed about 200 tracts, which were gladly received. In this village there are several small schools, and the majority of the men and boys could read.

At 11 A. M. we proceeded on our journey, and at 2 P. M. reached Indoss, eight miles S. S. W. from the last stage, where we addressed several congregations, and gave away 600 tracts. Indoss contains nearly 20,000 inhabitants, and is a very interesting place for Missionary exertions. The people listened with the greatest seriousness to the all-important doctrine of salva tion by the death of Christ, and the anxiety for tracts was quite equal to anything we have ever seen. We visited every part of the place, and continued till nearly dark, surrounded by crowds of attentive listeners, explaining the excellency of the gospel system, answering objections, and urging the necessity of faith in Christ.

8th. At day-light, thermometer 43°, struck our tent, and proceeded to Cutalpur, where we arrived at 2 P. M. On the road we passed several villages, where tracts were distributed and conversations held. At noon we crossed the Dalkissen river, and immediately perceived the gradual ascent of the land, which continued all the way to our final station for the day. Cutalpur is a large but scattered town, therefore dividing ourselves into two parties, we went first to the N. and S. and then occupied the E. and W. divisions of the town, in each of which large congregations assembled. At one place, about 600 persons, men and women, had met together, for the purpose of singing the praises of Rádhá Krishna. The two idols were placed under a canopy, attended by a number of bráhmans, who led the singing, and were joined in chorus by the whole assembly. Entering the crowd, we were permitted to approach the idols, and to speak to the people. The song ceased, and the multitude attentively listened to the voice of truth. The speaker alluded to the various systems of error which prevailed in the world, and instanced some of the legendary tales connected with the debtás of the Hindus, commeneing with Surya, who lost his teeth with Birbhadra; in consequence of which all the Hindus, when they present their offerings to him, first boil the rice and then consecrate it to his service. The Missionary was then about to enter upon the history of Krishna and his paramour Rádhá, when the officiating bráhman, perceiving his design, immediately struck up a popu lar verse in the history of the god, in which he was joined by the whole congregation. The noise was so great that the preacher's voice was lost, and all our efforts to restore order proving unavailing, we left the scene and retired to some distance, where we soon collected a large audience, who were addressed on the concerns relating to the salvation of the soul. In the other part of the town, about 100 persons were intreated to "flee from the wrath to come." They heard the word quietly and with apparent satisfaction. At another place, standing in the Nát-mandir of a large

temple, we preached to about 300 individuals, and insisted on the great truth, that there is no other name given under heaven whereby we can be saved, but that of Christ the Lord. During the day 700 tracts were distributed.

9th. Thermometer at day-break 40°. From Cutalpur we travelled 10 miles W. N. W. to Jaypur, on the border of the jungles. It is a small place, principally occupied as a bazar, and a resting place for travellers, on the Banaras and Mednipur roads, which cross each other here at right angles. A congregation of about 100 people assembled, to whom the moral law was explained, and it was shewn that all had corrupted their way before God, and the impossibility of obtaining salvation by any other means than that revealed in the gospel having been proved, they were urged to accept the grace of God without delay. Eighty tracts were given

away.

10th. Thermometer this morning 38° 30'. We proceeded through a dense jungle 10 miles W. and about 2 P. M. arrived at Ban Bishanpur. After partaking of a little refreshment, visited the fort of the Rájá of the place, which is an immense pile of building, nearly all in a state of decay. Formerly it was a place of considerable strength-the outworks were formed of konkah raised about 30 feet, surrounded with deep ditches. In the fort, idols' temples presented themselves on every side, all in honor of Vishnu, hence the name of the place Vishnupur or Bishnupur. We were told there were no less than 350 temples in the fort, and some of them of great antiquity. Three that we examined bore the dates of 949 of the Hindu era, equal to A. D. 1542. The present Rájá is a dependent of the Honorable Company. His ancestors were feudal princes for 1,100 years, and were in the receipt of a large revenue; but owing to various circumstances, the possessions of the family have gone to other hands, and the glory has departed from the house. The present Rájá retains the family titles, but none of its wealth.

11th, Sabbath. Thermometer at day-light 39'. Immediately after breakfast, we entered upon our work, and occupying different parts of the town preached in three places at the same time-after which we distributed our tracts, and moved on to other parts, and adopted the same method, so that in the course of three hours, nine sermons were preached, and about 800 tracts distributed. In the afternoon, we resumed our labours, and three more discourses were delivered, and 200 tracts put in circulation. In the course of the day, therefore, every part of this large town was visited, and the inhabitants intreated to turn from dumb idols to serve the living and true God. Never did we visit a place apparently so wholly given to idolatry. In some parts, the temples were actually more numerous than the houses. The congregations throughout the day were large and attentive. We urged upon their attention the importance of consideration—that as rational beings they were bound to judge for themselves, in matters concerning faith, and not to follow a system merely because it was popular. We then endeavored to shew that the "gods many and lords many" before whom they bowed were vanity and a lie, but that the God who made the heavens is the true object of worship, and that he is to be approached through Jesus Christ the Lord. Alas! for human nature, the very persons who apparently in sincerity had acknowledged the truth of our declaration, on leaving the assembly bowed themselves down to the idol which stood opposite, or in the next house. Thus after we had one moment hoped some favorable impression had been made, the next moment those hopes were dashed to the ground. Oh! for more faith!

12th. Thermometer 39'. During the past night three oxen were taken away by tigers, very near our tent. Distributed a few more tracts, to persons who at a very early hour came to request them, and left

for Panchmura, where we arrived at 3 P. M. The village is in the midst of the jungles, and the inhabitants are constantly kept in dread of the visits of wild beasts. This is the commencement of the district in which the late Cole campaign was carried on, and the people have a more warlike appearance than those of the other parts of Bengal. The bow and arrow, spears, battle-axes, and swords are seen in every direction, and scarcely a man is to be found without having one or another in his possession. The bow is a more formidable weapon in the hands of these people than we at first imagined. At our request they shot at various objects with the greatest exactness, and with a force which penetrated the arrow four inches into a tree, at 100 yards distance. During the late campaign, the sepoys suffered more from this than from any other weapon. The jungle is so exceedingly dense that an enemy concealed therein can annoy by their bows and arrows a marching force without much fear of retaliation. Having rested awhile, nearly the whole population of the village were collected together, and addressed on the great subject of salvation through Jesus Christ. About 150 tracts were given away.

13th. Arrived at Ghursimlapal, the residence of a Rájá. In the morning, thermometer 41°. During the night we were visited by a bear and a wolf, who were saluted by the arrows of our chokidárs, and were glad to make their escape. This being the full moon, and in the native almanack being put down as a lucky day for hunting, the Rájá, a boy of about eight years, his guardian, and all the followers of the family, together with the whole of the posse comitatus of the place, had gone forth to try their skill in the jungle. Whilst we were engaged in preaching to about 100 people, the sounds of the tom-tom and other musical instruments were heard, and soon the Rájá's elephant richly caparisoned, preceded by upwards of 50 men, armed in different ways, and followed by two palankeens, and another armed band came up. Having saluted us they passed on. It appears that the exercises of the day, and the joint exertions of about 100 men, ended in the death of three unfortunate hares. Soon after we had returned to our tent, a message from the Rájbárí came to request a supply of tracts. We accordingly sent about three of each sort in Bengáli. We distributed here about 175 tracts. Saw at a distance to the S. W. a high conical hill. The bears which abound in this neighbourhood are, according to the notions of this people, prevented from doing any mischief to the inhabitants, by the repeating of a certain mantra, or charm, every night-or should the animal come upon an individual unawares, the magical words have only to be spoken, and the creature will fly away as terrified as if a tiger were pursuing him. We however took the precaution, before we retired to our palankeens for the night, to put a mantra in the shape of a leaden bullet into our muskets, that we might, in case of molestation, make a more sensible impression on our shaggy friend, than the mere sound of words would be likely to produce.

14th. Thermometer 39°. At 3 P. M. reached Raypur, and encamped on an open spot, on which an encounter took place between the British troops and the Coles, and where several of the latter were killed. The people in these parts are poor and miserably wretched in appearance, both in their persons and habitations. Wood to any amount can be procured merely for the labor of felling it, and a jungle grass, excellent for thatching, can be had for the trouble of cutting it; but the people are so abominably lazy, that they will rather remain in broken-down hovels, that an Englishman would grieve to be compelled to put his pigs in, than exert themselves to make their habitations water tight and comfortable, In their persons they are filthy in the extreme. Naturally of a sooty black color, they add to their disagreeable appearance by the accumulation of dirt on their bodies, and men, women and children, with a few rags which appeared never to have been

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