Canton of Vaud; both on account of the frank and brotherly declaration of the Dissenting Ministers of London and its environs, and on account of the collections made in your churches for our relief. We have received the sums given to us, in singleness of heart, as a sacrifice which God hath accepted as agreeable to him through Jesus Christ, and for which he will recompense you at the resurrection of the just. The persecution still continues. Two suits are now in progress before the tribunals, against Dissenting Christians for holding religious meetings. Nevertheless, the kingdom of our Lord makes a constant and sensible progress, both among the Dissenters and in the national church, especially among the younger part of the clergy."

From another of these noble-minded men, (who has declined the acceptance of any present, and whose losses and sacrifices have amounted to several thousand pounds,) we have received a most interesting letter. It does infinite honour to his feelings of Christian delicacy and candour. Its chief topic is caution; lest we should think or speak too severely against the authors and instruments of the persecution, and should too highly commend the persecuted. We shall select some passages; premising that our accounts of the illness and death of Monsieur Juvet, were sent to Paris from the neighbourhood of the Canton, and that they were also corroborated by statements from other parts. We think it probable, that, if the circumstances could be fully searched into, there would be found no real discrepancy between our statements and that of our highly respected correspondent.

We

"With respect to our departed brother Juvet, of blessed memory, I find allegations which tend to cast upon cur unhappy persecutors an aggravation of their criminality, by opinions too strongly hazarded. saw that dear brother in apparently good health after [the cruel treatment which he endured.] Doubtless it is possible that those sufferings might, without its being immediately perceived, have been the determining cause of the return of the pulmonary disease which proved fatal: and I should not have found fault, had this possibility only been suggested, as a subject of serious reflection, for the consciences of those who excited the populace when they ought to have restrained them. I am convinced that I might, on good grounds, say to our government,

Examine seriously, in the presence of God, whether, by your measures, you have not perhaps been the cause of the death of several persons; whether you are not perhaps guilty of their blood.' But neither truth nor charity would permit me to bring a formal accusation. God only knows how the case really stood. God forbid that I should seem to cast any doubt upon the

various sufferings which our now happy friend endured for his Redeemer's sake, I would state, in the strongest manner, that he suffered the most of us all from the populace. My heart delights to reflect how greatly his zeal and faithfulness shone forth; and it is no humility in me to say that I should be happy could I imitate them. But, as disciples of Christ, we ought to fear going beyond the truth; particularly when the matter turns upon the agravations of the blame of any of our fellow-men, whose guilt is already too awfully great.

"I think, also, that the Magazines exalt too highly both our sufferings and our patience under them. With the exception of a few uncommon perpetrations, which might indeed stand in the same picture with the infuriated paganism of the early centuries, our sufferings, compared with those of the first martyrs for Christ, have been a very small matter. With regard to the manner in which we have borne them, we will say, to the praise of the glory of the grace of God, that he has not forsaken his poor servants; that he has even enabled us to suffer joyfully, for his sake, the little that we have suffered; but, placed by the side of the Christians who were tortured in the primitive times for the testimony of Jesus, we are little indeed. If such praises of us should be read in the Canton of Vaud, instead of their being ascribed to the generous sympathy of our English brethren, I fear that they will be attributed to the ridiculous vanity of sectaries, always prompt to exaggerate their sufferings, and to laud one another as if they were saints." For the Committee,

London, Nov. 13, 1826.

SIR,

J. PYE SMITH.

PROFESSOR HAFFNER.

TO THE EDITOR.

Homerton, Dec. 2, 1826. Ir is high time that the discussions between Mr. Alexander Haldane and myself should terminate. I therefore make no observation upon his rejoinder in the last Number of the Evangelical Magazine. It will be the most perfect satisfaction to me if your impartial readers will seriously compare the several parts of the correspondence under the respective particulars; and, if they think fit, will consult the lately published Minutes of the British and Foreign Bible Society, relating to the Strasburg Preface.

I should not have given you the trouble of receiving this note, but for the purpose of a necessary explanation. Mr. Alexander Haldane complains of my having intimated that he had described my letter as being "quite outrageous" and evidently regards this as

an unjust charge. It must, therefore, appear that I have made upon him a false imputation. The fact was as follows:-in the packet which you forwarded to me from him, there was not only his letter, which you have now published with my reply, but an additional sheet, containing a large Postscript. In this my letter was declared, upon the authority of some eminent person not named, to be "quite outrageous." I fully believed that this Postscript was a part of the composition intended as an answer to me, and adverted to it accordingly but I now suppose that it must have been a private letter to yourself. I beg leave to add that, in the manuscript sent to me, the writer retained his former signature Aŋ0ɛia (Alethia) and it was in reference to it that I used the initial letter A. Had I been aware that he would have thrown off his disguise, and appeared under his own name, I should have employed his proper desig

BIBLE SOCIETIES ON THE CONTINENT.

THESE are fifty-two in number. The first in order of institution, is the Basle Bible Society, founded in 1804, which has cir. culated, with the aid of the British and Foreign Bible Society, no fewer than 146,670 copies of the Bible or the New Testament. The Wurtemburgh Bible Society, instituted at Stutgardt in 1812, has circulated 135,941 Bibles or Testaments. The Ratisbon Bible Society has circulated 65,000 Testaments; the Frankfort, 69,700 ; the Hanover (since 1804) 35,000 German Bibles; the Prussian Bible Society, 200,000 Bibles and Testaments; the Saxon, instituted in 1805, 105,500; the Russian, 705,831; the Swedish, 223,870; the Danish, 36,000; the Sleswig-Holstein, 64,000; the Paris, 61,400. Altogether, the fifty-two European Societies are known to have circulated considerably above 2,302,274 copies of the New Testament, with or without the Old Testament. In addition to these exertions of Societies, three Catholic Clergymen have published above 60,000 copies of the German New Testament.

EARTHQUAKE IN CUBA.

THE following is an extract of a letter from St. Jago de Cuba, dated Sept. 21st, 1826.

"We were visited on the morning of the

18th inst. between three and four o'clock, with one of the most awful earthquakes that has been felt here for fifty years past, at which time nearly half the town was destroyed. There were two shocks, the second more severe than the first, and the duration of each was about one minute. The noise resembled the rumbling of heavy loaded waggons, dragged over a paved archway, and finished with a tremendous explosion like the simultaneous discharge of an immense number of cannon. The confusion was unexampled-men, women, and children, suddenly leaving their beds, and running in every direction; some with little clothing on, many entirely naked. The most pitiful cries and shrieks were heard from these terrified people, who were to be seen running to the Cathedral and offering up the hurried devotions of the moment; some were stupified with fear, some crossing and beating themselves with great zeal; others calling loudly on the priests to assist them with their prayers and holy water; indeed, it seemed that most of them thought of and asked the aid of their Creator for the first time in their lives. It was generally supposed, from the weather being so close and sultry, that a repetition of the shock would take place. This, however, did not occur, and the priests have attributed this special Providence to the efficacy of their prayers. After the agitation had in some measure subsided, large tubs and bathing vessels were filled with water, which being blessed by the priests, the superstitious part of the people immediately got into the consecrated element and remained for nearly an hour up to their necks in holy water, supposing that it would protect them from another shock. But few houses were thrown down, no lives were lost, and the damage was comparatively trifling. Numbers of large fish were observed jumping and playing about the vessels in the harbour just before the shock.

AMERICAN ANECDOTE OF A BLACK.

"How happens it," said one of the elders of Dr. 's church to a poor African, as they were passing out of it one cold snowy Sabbath morning-" how happens it that you are always here, whatever be the state of the weather." "I fraid to stay way, Massa," replied the poor African, "for I don't know when the saving word is going to be preached."

NEWSPAPERS IN INDIA.

THE number of newspapers published in the languages of India, and designed solely for native readers, has increased, in the course of seven years, from one to six. Four of these are in Bengalee, and two in Persian.

REV. THOMAS TAYLOR, WITNEY, OXON.

MR. TAYLOR was born at Upper Haughton, Gloucestershire, Feb. 2, 1759. His father was a respectable farmer in that village, whence he removed to Chalford, near Chipping Norton, when the subject of this brief Memoir was about 11 years of age. When a pupil of the late Rev. John Ryland, of Northampton, he was accustomed to accompany his son (the late Dr. Ryland) to the neighbouring villages, whose ministry was blessed to his conversion. On his return from school, he joined the Belfast Church at Chipping Norton, then under the pastoral care of the late Rev. Thos. Purdy, whence he was dismissed, some years afterwards, to the Baptist Church at Middleton Cheney, then under the pastoral care of the late Rev. Thomas Green, upon the removal of his father to a farm in that neighbourhood. The church at Middleton called him to the exercise of his gifts, and expressed their approbation of them, in the year 1799, after he had, for some years, read sermons in the villages, and had been induced, at the particular request of those who assembled, to speak occasionally to them. After his call to the ministry, he preached in various places near Banbury, and for a considerable time at Fairford, till the beginning of 1792, when his steps were directed to Upton-uponSevern, where he continued a year, and was very happy in his work there. The church at Upton wished him to remain, but his health did not then permit; on its restoration, he went to Shipston-on-Stow, where his labours were so acceptable, that he received an invitation to the pastoral office, and was ordained over the church there in 1793. The year following he married Miss Mary Lyne, daughter of Mr. Lyne, of that place, who died very suddenly in 1799, which mournful providence he thus notices in his Diary of that year:-"My dear wife died Lord's Day, August 4, while I was absent, supplying at Warwick that day, agreeably to her own proposal, and perfect consent, not having any apprehension of danger; she died soon after she had been delivered of a fine boy, and, I trust, they are. now in heaven praising God; and may God, of his grace, bring me there to join them in due time, for Christ's sake. Amen." His pastoral connexion with the church at Shipston had ceased in 1798, from which period his labours were occasional till the commencement of the year 1800, when he received two invitations, one from Bedford, and another from Witney; he decided in favour of the latter, and was pastor of the church there 11 years and a half. In 1810, he married Miss M. T. Lawrence, of Witney,

His

who, with two of their children, survive him. After his resignation of the pastorate at Witney, he continued to reside there till his death, preaching first at Wantage, where there was a grea, degree of attention excited, and afterwards at Kingston, Lisle, Ersham, and other places. At Arlington and ColnRogers, in Gloucestershire, his ministry for several years was most acceptable, and not unaccompanied with tokens of the Divine blessing. Many pleasing instances of his usefulness in almost all the places where bis ministry was employed, both statedly and occasionally, appeared during his life; and many others, unknown on earth, will, there is reason to believe, be made manifest in the last great day. He had been gradually declining in health for a long time, but was not materially worse till about a month before his decease. He spoke but little during his affliction, but frequently declared that he had no other hope than that Saviour whom he had preached to others. departure was sudden, on Wednesday, Sept. 27, at the age of 67. His remains were interred, with those of many of his friends, at Chipping Norton, on the Monday following; and his funeral sermon was preached on Lord's Day evening, Oct. 8, at Witney, by the Rev. T. Coles, of Bourton-on-theWater, to a very numerous congregation, who were deeply interested by a recital of several decisive facts, illustrative of the usefulness of his ministry. Mr. C. stated, that some of his own first serious impressions were received in very early life, under the ministry of Mr. Taylor, particularly from those passages, Luke xv. 2, and 2 Thess. i. 7, &c. He also read a letter he had received the day before from a respectable neighbouring minister, of which the following is an extract:-" About twenty years since, Mr. Taylor's preaching was the means of making the earliest serious impressions on the mind of one who is now, and has for many years been, an honourable and useful member of the Church of Christ. It was at the chapel at Witney, to which this individual went by stealth for fear of her husband. The subject was Hagar and Ishmael in the desert, and the text, "Thou, God, seest me." One remark especially, which Mr. Taylor made, was the cause of her earnestly seeking spiritual influence: the observation was this, "Hagar would never have found the well if the angel bad not shown it to her; so, the greatest blessings are in the Gospel, but we all need spiritual assistance to discover them." From that time this good woman earnestly sought that Divine aid, and never desisted till she had obtained it After her conversion, and the death of her husband, Providence so

blessed her endeavours, as to enable her to acquire an honourable independence, and she was one of the chief instruments of introducing the Gospel into the populous town where she now resides, and liberally contributes to the support of the cause of Christ in that place. Mr. Taylor's letters, addressed to his relatives and friends, breathe ardent affection for their spiritual interests, and anxious solicitude that both he and they might be enabled to improve those trials and bereavements incident to the present mortal state, and that they might all be made meet for the inheritance of the saints in light, where sin and sorrow are known no more. Thither many of the fruits of his ministry preceded him; and many others, we trust, will follow him, to be his crown of rejoicing in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, at his coming!

RICHARD MILLS.

DIED suddenly, at Parkgate, of apoplexy, August 18, 1825, Mr. Richard Mills, of Walsal, Staffordshire, aged 53 years.

He had many years been a useful and honourable member of the Independent church in that town, the place of his nativity, and being prosperous in business, he cheerfully, with heart and hand, felt disposed to assist the cause of Christ, not only at home, as that lay near his heart, but also in other places and denominations, as many Christian friends bear testimony; indeed, his house might with propriety be called the house of Gaius.

It appears from his own account, he lived more than twenty years a stranger to himself, the Lord Jesus Christ, and salvation by him; but when the Great Head of the Church, in his kind providence, sent that burning and shining light, the late Mr. Grove, to Walsal, our departed friend, with raany more, was led to hear him; and the Gospel Mr. G. so faithfully preached, was made the power of God to his salvation, and perhaps few entered more into Mr. Groves' views of divine truth, than he did. And being naturally of a lively turn of mind, he not only believed, but went on his way rejoicing. Few enjoyed the Gospel more; he has, when speaking of his late pastor to the writer, observed, that in his preaching, he debased the sinner very low, and exalted the Lord Jesus Christ, and the riches of divine grace in him very high; and while he faithfully preached the glorious doctrines of the Gospel, clearly stated that the path of the believer lay between self-righteousness on the one hand, and licentious presumption on the other. And our departed friend hath, in bis principles and deportment to the day of his death, borne testimony that divine grace, while it exalts the Saviour as all in all, humbles the sinner as evil and nothing

in himself, and promotes holiness in heart and life. He often said, he wished the Gospel to be preached doctrinally, experimentally, and practically.

For more than forty years, our departed friend was blessed with the enjoyment of health; the Lord was then pleased to lay him upon the bed of affliction. For some time his dear pastor and friends held special prayer-meetings for his recovery, and the Lord was graciously pleased to raise him up again.

In the summer of 1824, he had a slight fit of apoplexy, and from that time he became very nervous. His medical attendant recommended sea air and bathing, and on the 13th of July, 1825, he and his partner in life left home and spent a few weeks in Liverpool. After he had been there a few days, his health seemed greatly to improve, and on the 9th of August they left Liverpool for Parkgate. The last Sabbath he spent on earth, August 14th, he had the pleasure of hearing Mr. Thorp, of Chester, preach two sermons at the Independent chapel, Parkgate; the text, in the evening was, "This day thou shalt be with me in paradise." He much enjoyed the sermon, and as the divinity of Christ was much dwelt upon, he said to his wife on their return, "what a glorious doctrine, and what a proof of the power of Christ to save sinners." Monday, the 15th, he seemed much better in health than he had been some · time, and by his request, Mr. Thorp engaged to preach again on Tuesday evening. But how uncertain are all things here. In the evening of Monday, after the fourth chapter of the second of Corinthians had been read, he said, "read the following chapter," and repeated the first verse: "For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."

The chapter being read, he joined in singing that sweet hymn, beginning "Come thou fount of every blessing;" and after committing himself, his dear partner, family, and the church at large, by solemn prayer, to his heavenly Father, retired to rest; towards morning he became very' restless, and said, he hoped the good Lord would support him. About six o'clock, finding himself worse, he and his wife arose; he said, "I hope the Lord will take me;" these were his last words. Though he continued to breathe some hours, he lay quite insensible, and departed in the afternoon. His remains were removed to Walsal for interment.

Mr. Mills, as a tradesman, was just and upright; as a neighbour, affable and kind; as a husband, affectionate and tender; as a Christian, he was a man of ardent piety, firm in his principles, fervent in prayer, zealous in order to promote the glory of Christ, and the good of souls.

MARY ANN MORRIS.

DIED at Crossbrook-street, Cheshunt, Herts, on the 23d Sept., in the 20th year of her age, Miss Mary Ann Morris, eldest daughter of the late Mr. Thomas Morris, Castle-street, Holborn, London, During the period of her severe illness, she manifested the utmost patience, and the calmest resignation under the chastening hand of her heavenly Father. Though at times suffering the acutest pain, she was never heard to murmur or repine; in the midst of her affliction, she found consolations "that were neither few nor small;" she possessed that inward peace of mind which is imparted to the true believer, and which can support the soul in pains, in sorrows, and in death itself. Though cut off in the bloom of youth, when life appears most lovely, she trembled not at the prospect of having to pass through the dark valley of

the shadow of death; her Shepherd appeared to be with her; his rod and his staff, they comforted her. When warned of her ap proaching dissolution, she folded her hands, and with the most resigned composure said, "Thy will be done;" which words she repeated several times, and they were the last she uttered. She met the approach of death with tranquillity and hope, and yielded up her soul with undoubting confidence into the hands of Him who gave it. "Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord." Never was daughter more dutiful, more affectionate, than she was to her widowed mother, whom she has now left sorrowing, but not as those who have no hope. The Rev. Wm. Bennet improved the subject of Miss Morris's early death in an appropriate and impressive discourse from these words-" For it is not a vain thing for you, because it is your life." Deut, xxxii. 47.

AMERICAN PROCLAMATION

For Thanksgiving, by De Witt Clinton,

Governor of the State of New York.

WHEREAS public demonstrations of gratitude to Almighty God, for the manifold dispensations of his goodness, and for the enjoyment of signal and unmerited blessings, are duties of paramount and indispensable obligation. And whereas it has been his divine pleasure to continue his manifestations of great goodness to the people of this State, in multiplying the fruits of the earth, promoting the diffusion of religion, advancing the interests of knowledge, averting the ravage of disease, prospering internal improvements, and vouchsafing the enjoyment of liberty, peace, and plenty; now therefore, under a grateful sense of these high and beneficent dispensations, and with deep solicitude in the performance of a solemn duty, I do hereby recommend to the good people of this State, the observance of Thursday, the Seventh day of December next, as a day

of PUBLIC PRAYER AND THANKSGIVING.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto

set my (L. s.) name and the privy seal, at the city of Albany, this twentyfifth day of October, Anno Domini, DE WITT CLINTON,

1826.

teroth, as provisional Secretary. It states, that elementary education has not hitherto become general in France, and that the want of it in various ways impedes the progress of religious instruction; and among many others, because the discourses of the clergy are in consequence ill understood by the younger members of their flock. After the extension of Sunday adverting to Schools in Great Britain, the United States of America, and the various countries in which Christian Missionaries have founded

churches, and the benefits which have resulted from these institutions, he proceeds es follows:

"The lessons which are taught on the Sabbath, must necessarily, both in the choice of subjects and the manner of treating them, be of a religious tendency. They cannot, as on other days, relate to the temporal and fleeting interests of this life; but partaking of the sanctity of the day, they must be restricted to the concerns of the

soul, and of eternity. They will be to children what public worship is to adults; they will be founded upon the Bible; they will relate to the word of God, the divine truths which it teaches, the admirable precepts which it contains, the regenerating influence of which it is the instrument."

SUNDAY SCHOOLS IN FRANCE.

A Committee has been recently formed in Paris, for promoting the extension of Sunday Schools throughout the Reformed Churches of France. An excellent address on the subject has been circulated in the name of the Committee, signed by the Baron de Stael, as provisional President, and M. Lut

LONDON MISSIONARY SOCIETY.

We understand that Two Sermons will be preached at Trinity Chapel, Leather-lane, on Sunday the 24th inst. on behalf of the Missionary Society: that in the morning, by the Rev. Henry Nott, Missionary from the South Sea Islands; and that in the evening, by the Rev. Dr. Philip, from Africa,