this emergency, to subserve our purposes; for by extracting the carbon, lime decomposes the carbonic acid, and renders the other gases salubrious.

In order to apply lime, reduce it to a fine powder: softly spread this powder down the orifices of privies, cess-pools, and upon any accumulations of putridity within and upon your premises. The finer the powder, the better; because it thus comes into contact with the atoms of carbon upon a larger scale, and becomes more efficacious. In addition to this, after brushing off all loose particles, and rendering them perfectly clean, lime-wash the surfaces of the walls and ceilings, not only in the dwelling, but the privy, shop, out-houses, &c. &c. thoroughly. The greater the surface of lime you thus expose to the action of these deleterious gases, the better, because the points of contact are thereby multiplied, and the effect is proportionably increased: and these ought to be renewed from time to time.

The chloride of lime is superior to lime alone see Imperial Mag. Jan. and Feb. 1828, under the head of Mephitic Gases in Mines, where this subject is treated at large. This compound ought to be resorted to by all those who can afford to use it. But chlorine can only be united to lime by a chemical process, at once tedious and troublesome, and this chloride, when purchased of the ordinary venders, like other drugs, is expensive; whereas lime is cheap, easy of access, and may be again and again resorted to without inconvenience or delay. The City of London Board of Health has given public notice, that a solution of chloride of lime may be procured, on application at the medical stations of each Ward. This, as an example to every Board of Health in this island, is worthy of notice.

One subject, and one of the last importance, yet remains; and we must notice it particularly namely, the persons who have induced feverish debility, and a disposition to the attacks of cholera in their constitutions, by acts of intemperance, or dissolute habits of any description. If hundreds of dwellings have become charnel-houses, by the pestiferous gases generated from the accumulated filth suffered and concealed therein, in empty rooms, private cupboards, and corners, stagnant drains, and from decaying substances; these are living charnelhouses, locomotive temples of pestilential effluvia, which, instead of privacy, thrust themselves upon the sober portion of the community, and, while they annoy all their senses, shock their very souls. As public 2D. SERIES, NO. 13.-VOL. II.

nuisances, they merit indictments, and not less so, as dangerous vehicles, wherein the pestilence, which has so awfully visited the nation, may be transmitted to thousands of their fellow-men. Lime, yea, even chlorides, are thrown away, as disinfectors, upon these masses of fermentation, where ardent spirits deal excitements to effervescence, consuming body and soul.

Woe to the drunkards in Britain! The guilt of self-destruction in these, is enhanced by the destruction which they perpetuate upon men more worthy than themselves. Is there no balm in Gilead? Are there no physicians there? One Physician lives, alone, and they will not come unto Him that they may have life. If these sots will not pray for themselves; in self-defence, let the whole community pray for them. If these are enemies to the community at large, they are not less enemies to themselves-awful enemies, indeed; for a perseverance in these practices will destroy their bodies here, and destroy, hereafter, body and soul in hell.

Their cure is with the Great Physician, who alone can save. The blood of Jesus Christ, while it washes away sin, gives power over sin; and this power alone can save the drunkard. Hear us, O Lord our God, we beseech Thee, for these men, for these women, and (alas for their youth!) for these children, who are given to intemperance; and deliver them from the destroyer. Give them repentance unto life, forgiveness and peace of conscience; that, saved from death, they may live before Thee for ever. O Lord, hear us for our land; avert this evil, amidst deserved wrath, from us; deliver us from this death that, humbled in the dust, we may serve Thee in newness of life, in and through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. King Square, Dec. 3, 1831.

W. COLDWELL.

WESLEYAN MISSION IN CEYLON.

As the state of British India will soon become a subject of serious and public inquiry, and as the effect of all the institutions in that country, whether moral or religious, upon the manners and conduct of the natives, will be taken into consideration, it becomes a matter of public interest to obtain from men, who are qualified by the public situations which they have held, to form a statesman-like and unbiassed judgment, an impartial estimate of the real effects which have hitherto been produced by the Wesleyan establishments in different parts of the British territories, to the east

the Cape of Good Hope. We shall however in the present instance, confine our observations to that branch of the Wesleyan Mission in Asia, which is established on the island of Ceylon.

When Sir Alexander Johnston, late president of His Majesty's council on that island, was officially sent to England by the local government of the island, to submit to His Majesty's ministers in this country, such measures as would in his opinion lead to the improvement of the country and the people, he proposed, amongst other things, a general system of education for all the natives of the island, consisting of about a million of people; some of whom are Catholics, some Protestants, some Hindoos, some Buddhists, and some Mahomedans. With a view to the introduction of this system, Sir Alexander suggested, after having examined attentively the Wesleyan institutions at home and abroad, that it would be highly advisable for His Majesty's ministers in this country, to hold out every protection and encouragement in their power to the Wesleyan missionaries, to induce them to establish a mission on the island of Ceylon, as well for the purpose of general education of the natives, as for that of disseminating the principles of Christianity amongst them. On this subject, he had a great many communications with the late Dr. Coke; who, entering into the plan suggested by Sir Alexander John. ston with his usual zeal and earnestness, determined, in consequence of the great importance of the object, notwithstanding his advanced years, to proceed to Ceylon himself with some missionaries, and establish a mission on that island.

The age at which the late Dr. Coke undertook his mission to Ceylon, his death upon his passage to that island, the subsequent establishment of his intended mission upon it, the good which has been derived from it, and the various beneficial effects which its labours have already produced amongst the natives of that island, render interesting every circumstance relative to its proceedings, and to the conduct observed by every person who was connected with its success in Asia. Although Dr. Coke died on his passage, the other missionaries reached Ceylon, and established their mission on the island. The manner in which the Wesleyans have conducted themselves, and the effect produced by that conduct, are well shewn in the following Address, presented by the Wesleyan missionaries to Sir Alexander Johnston, and in his answer to them on his quitting the island

in 1817.

"Wesleyan Mission House, Colombo. "Honourable Sir,

"From the favourable manner in which you have been accustomed to look upon our character and pursuits in this island, the lively interest in our success and prosperity which you have always manifested, and the essential counsel and aid which you have never ceased to afford us in our missionary work, we are urged, by a grateful and unanimous impulse, to address you on your approaching departure from this country; and are persuaded, that you will, at once, excuse the intrusion, and accept of this sincere expression of our sentiments and feelings.

"Led to this scene of missionary labour, instrumentally by the representations of it which you gave to some of the leading characters in our connection in England, we have been taught, by our Society, to look up to you as an honourable friend and wellwisher of our undertaking; and we have not been disappointed. You have generously entered into our views; you have, in many instances, most disinterestedly marked out for us stations of usefulness, and plans of exertion; and your well-timed cautions, advice, and support, have oftentimes been of the most essential service to us in circumstances of difficulty and discourage. ment, as well as in those of a less difficult and a more gratifying complexion. It would, therefore, be an omission which would be unbecoming our station, for the kind attention with which you have honoured us, were we not to repeat to you on this interesting occasion, our grateful acknowledgments of all the various public favours, as well as unseen and effectual assistances, which we have from time to time received from you in the furtherance of our common object; and in this we shall be united by the thousands of our friends in the United Kingdom in particular, as well as by all who wish well to the cause of the gospel in general. Permit us then, Honourable Sir, to offer to you our warmest and most respectful thanks; and to assure you, that while we shall never forget the honourable name which has so invariably stood among the foremost of our friends in this distant land, so we shall not cease to pray, that you, with every branch of your family, may be ever remembered by our Divine Master, even by that Jesus whose name you have earnestly desired that we might publish with success among the benighted inhabitants of this country, and who hath said, "Those that honour him, he will honour; and that a cup of cold water disinterestedly given in his name, shall not lose its reward."

"Having been instrumental in introducing our present sphere of action, you have beheld us, in a humble measure, entering upon our work: as yet, but little saving effect has been produced. We are, however, we trust, laying the foundation for future usefulness; and we intend patiently and perseveringly to proceed in imparting the knowledge of the gospel, until it shall please God to render the communication thereof signally effectual to the salvation of the heathens. We are in no doubt as to the final result; we are persuaded it will be glorious. The day may be distant, but we are sure it will come, and know it is approaching, (may we be permitted to see it!) when the degrading worship of unholy demons shall universally give place to the pure and peaceful service of Jesus, our Immanuel; and when the populous jungle of Ceylon shall resound with the high praises of Him who came to seek and to save that which was lost.'

"Though at a distance from you, we trust we shall still be allowed a place in your solicitude; and as you have obligingly made yourself acquainted with our whole economy and situation, we beg to request your services with our committee and friends in England, that we may continue to be supported and reinforced in such a way as to render our endeavours increasingly efficient. They will thankfully receive, your various communications, and we shall no less thankfully enjoy the beneficial consequences of them from time to time.

"This consideration tends to lessen the regret that we feel at losing your personal residence among us in this country; and we entertain the hope, that it may yet be the will of Providence to return you again personally to assist his cause in the Eastern world.

"We cannot, Honourable Sir, but refer, with feelings of respectful sympathy, to the immediate cause of your present removal to Europe; the kind and christian solicitude of your esteemed and respected lady, especially for the improvement of the female part of the rising generation, renders our loss two-fold. May the wishes of her ladyship be fully carried into effect, and especially may the rising institution near your late residence, which was the object of her daily attention and superintendence, continue to flourish, and ever be a source of pleasing satisfaction to its benevolent foundress, whose name the children of that place will always be taught to revere and esteem. We ardently hope that the voyage and change may be propitious, and that you may shortly find yourself in your native

land, surrounded by your numerous and cheerful family, under the most pleasing possible circumstances.

With no common sentiments and emotions, do we draw to the conclusion of a letter already too long, were it not that gratitude is sometimes allowed to exceed limits prescribed by ordinary rules; and commending you and your amiable partner and family to the grace and keeping of our Lord Jesus Christ, we remain, Honourable Sir, your much obliged and thankful humble servants,

"(Signed by order and in behalf of the conference of the Wesleyan Methodists, Mission. aries in Ceylon,)

"JAMES LYNCH, Chairman.
"W. M. HARWARD, Secretary.

"August 22, 1817.

"The Hon. Sir Alexander Johnston, Knt. Chief Justice of Ceylon."

"To the above Address the Honourable the Chief Justice was pleased to return the following Answer :—

"Gentlemen,

"I beg that you will accept of my sin. cere and grateful thanks for the very kind and very flattering manner in which you have been so obliging as to communicate to me your resolution of the 22d ult. The respect which I entertain for your Society at large, as well as for those members of it in particular with whom I have the honour to be personally acquainted, make me fully aware of the weight which is due to your opinions; and nothing, I assure you, could be more gratifying to my feelings, than to receive so public and so unanimous a mark of your approbation.

"It is with infinite satisfaction I learn from you, that your Society in England do me the honour to consider me, in some measure, as the original cause of the establishment of your mission on this island. The benefit which the country has derived from your unremitted exertions, notwithstanding the innumerable and the unforeseen difficulties which you have had to encounter, is acknowledged by every unprejudiced person who is acquainted with the real nature of your proceedings; and the extensive effect which has already been produced by your exertions, will enable your friends to look forward, with confidence, to what may hereafter be expected from your zeal and from your perseverance.

"The progress which the members of your society have made in acquiring a knowledge of the different languages that prevail in this country; the extent of the information which you have collected, relative to the religion, sciences, customs, manners, and local prejudices of the people;

the care with which you have educated natives to officiate as preachers; the assiduity with which you have yourselves instructed the inhabitants on religious and moral subjects; the numbers and variety of the English books which you have translated; the ready assistance which you have afforded the Bible Society in completing and printing the new translation of the Testament; the great improvement which you have introduced into the method of printing at Colombo, and the moderate prices at which you have circulated the most useful works, are unequivocal proofs of the pains which you have taken to disseminate throughout India, by every means in your power, a knowledge of Christianity, and a bias in favour of its doctrines. The admirable plan upon which you have established schools in the vicinity of Colombo, Negombo, Pantura, Galle, Matura, Batticalo, and Jaffna, has excited an universal anxiety amongst all classes, and amongst all descriptions of the natives, to have similar schools opened in every part of the settlements; the rule which you have so wisely adopted, of selecting such persons only for masters, as may be deemed fit for the situation by the heads of the different families whose children they are to instruct, has warmly interested those who are parents in the success of your undertaking; and the voluntary manner in which they have offered you their assistance, is a decided indication of the popularity of your system. An attentive observation of the character of the people of this island, for a period of fifteen years, enables me to form some conjecture as to the probable effect of this system; and I have no hesitation whatever in stating it to you, as my decided opinion, that, should you meet with the support which you deserve in England and in this country, you will, ere long, realize the hopes of those who are the most sanguine in their expectation of the ultimate success of the cause of Christianity in Asia.

"The kindness with which you express your wishes for the recovery of Lady Johnston, and the terms in which you are pleased to mention her earnest, though feeble, endeavours to promote the establishment of the school of Colpetty, are most flattering to her; she begs me to return you her sincere thanks, and to assure you how much she regrets that the distressing and very melancholy state of her health has prevented her of late from attending so regularly as she wished to an institution, the success of which has never failed, under all her suffer ings, to be a source of real consolation to her mind. It was her intention, had her

health permitted of her remaining in this climate, to have promoted many other institutions of a similar nature; and under the urgent necessity which she feels of her immediate return to Europe, she reflects with the greatest pleasure upon all those benevolent measures which your Society, from motives of the purest philanthropy, has adopted, for the education and religious instruction of the native inhabitants of both sexes, in every part of this island.—I have the honour to be, with the greatest respect and esteem, your most obliging and respectful servant,

(Signed)

ALEXANDER JOHNSTON."

The opinion contained in Sir Alexander Johnston's Answer, is that of a man who had attentively considered the character and manners of the natives, and had devoted himself, in his public and private capacity, to raise their moral character by giving them a share in the government of their country, by inducing them to abolish the state of domestic slavery which had subsisted on their island for three hundred years, and affording them, by the introduction of trial by jury, the most powerful motive for improving their education, and increasing their value for a character of truth and integrity.

A testimony so favourable, so unequivocally expressed, and emanating from such an exalted quarter, is of far more importance than that which any private individual could confer. It has both a religious, and a political aspect; and in each of these respects the Wesleyan mission in Ceylon must have been surveyed by Sir Alexander Johnston, from that elevated and responsible situation which he so long filled with integrity and honour. Instead of suspecting that an attempt to introduce Christianity would create disorder in the state, by interfering with the prejudices of the natives; according to his views, founded on long observation, no danger whatever was to be apprehended. It also appears, in his estimation, that the system on which the Wesleyan missionaries had invariably acted, was better adapted than any other to accomplish this desirable object.

The experiment has been tried about sixteen years, and we are not aware that any attempt to place the natives under laws to which they had been total strangers, to favour them with the privileges of Englishmen, or to supplant heathenism by Christianity, has in any one instance been attended with inconvenience, or even received with feelings of stern and reluctant submission. Hence, it may be fairly presumed, that when the concerns of India shall undergo a

legislative investigation, the subject of Christianity will occupy an interesting portion of its councils. In this renovated order of things which is confidently expected, it may be reasonably hoped, that obstacles and impediments will be removed, and every facility afforded to zealous missionaries, and benevolent private Christians, while uniting their efforts to spread among the heathen the unsearchable riches of Christ.

CREATION-NO. I.

(Second Series.)

In our efforts, during the year 1831, to depict the creation of Elohim to our fellow men, it was deemed expedient, in the first instance, thoroughly to investigate the elements of this universe, viz. the primitive, created atoms. These, therefore, necessarily occupied our first series; for of these the whole universe is composed.

In this second series, we must advance from the elements of bodies, to the bodies themselves. And here we have a field so vast, that what is already done appears little, in comparison with what is before us. The outline of the universe has been sketched; but to fill up the parts, and finish the subject, is a task too arduous to contemplate without emotion. Matter, simple as created, seems easy to dilate upon, in comparison with matter compounded, and appropriated to uses innumerable; diverse, even to extremes, and yet possessing every grade from the lumpish clod to the most beauteous of vegetation, from the most diminutive to the highest of animation, from the grain of sand to the towering and massive rock, and from the minute vapour to the mighty ocean!

The appropriation of matter, in compounds, into moist and dry-oceans and solid land; the vegetation of matter into forms and hues, including powers of successive vegetation from age to age, by the germination of seeds; the appropriation of spheres into greater and lesser lights-a central sun, revolving moon, and wandering stars; the animation of matter into locomotive creatures, aqueous, amphibious, and aerial, of dimensions huge, moderate and minute, with the power of generation from age to age; the animation of matter into locomotive creatures, earthy prone and elevated, of every grade and form, with the power of generation from age to age; and finally, the incarnation of spirit in matter, with the power of generation from age to age: thus completing the last link of the mighty chain which connects the great Creator

with His creatures, and the creatures with the lumpish clod, are all before us, untouched. With these we must grapple, in the order of the word of truth. If matter, in its primitive form, detained us a whole year, can we look to the termination of the discussions on all these in another year? At least, we can try; and if we fail, we fail in a noble cause.

It would seem a question, from the length of time the created atoms remained individual, whether there was sufficient geniality in their nature to induce an union of each with each; and if so, whether such union would be permanent? But to attain an end, the great Creator is never at a loss for the means. The agents which He called into existence on the second day of creation, perfectly sufficed for the accomplishment of this great purpose, and the experience of ages proves the efficient manner in which the work was performed, by the permanency of the subjects then called into existence. So perfect, indeed, is this union of the atoms of matter, that, even in this enlightened age, it is a question with the learned, whether all the ingenuity of the ablest chemists have ever yet, by analysis, sufficed to enable them to arrive at a simple substance.

Having already treated upon the subjects noted by the inspired penman, in his account of the first and second days of creation, we now proceed to his narrative of the third day. Gen. i. 9, 10. “And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. And God called the dry land earth, and the gathering together of the waters called He seas: and God saw that it was good." Or, as it may be rendered: Elohim pronounced, Let the waters under the heaven congregate in their place; and let the dry arise: and it was established. And Elohim denominated the dry earth, and the congregated waters denominated He seas. And Elohim surveyed the whole, and, behold, it was beautifully perfect.

In describing creation, Moses is sublime; and in his subsequent descriptions of the operations of the great Creator, a similar grandeur is manifest in every sentence: his diction never flags-it never becomes exuberant, and a definitive terseness marks its progression from first to last. In describing an act of creation, his language is, "Elohim pronounced, Let the light be, and the light was!" In noting an operation or formation, his language is, "Elohim pronounced, Amidst the terraqueous fluids, let there be an expansion, and let it divide fluids from fluids!" With this addition, "And Elohim