LITERARY AND PHILOSOPHICAL INTELLIGENCE. &c. &c. GREAT BRITAIN. In the Press: The Field of Waterloo, a poem, by Mr. Walter Scott;-A Sy. stem of Physiological Botany, with plates, by the Rev. P. Keith, F.L.S.;Vol. II. of Discourses on the Principles of Religious Belief, as connected with Human Happiness, by the Rev. R. Morehead;-Biographical Memoirs of Dr. Matthew Stewart, Dr. James Hutton, and Professor John Robison; by John Playfair, F.R.S.L., and Professor of Natural Philosophy in the University of Edinburgh;-A Picture of Italy, by Mr. Coxe, forming a complete guide to that country, with maps, &c.;Religious Education, in a Series of Family Conversations, by the late J. Bowden, of Lower Tooting;-A new edi̟tion of the Sermons of Martin Luther, accompanied by a full-length portrait of that great Reformer, in one volume octavo ;-Ovidii Metamorphoses selectæ et in usum Scholarum expurgatæ, cum Notis Anglicanis, by the Rev. C. Bradley, on the plan of his Phædrus, Eutropius, &c. Preparing for publication: A Greek and English Lexicon, by the Rev. E. V. Bloomfield, under the patronage of the University of Cambridge; Some Ac count of the Mediterranean from 1810 to 1815, by Arthur Burrow, Esq., travelling-fellow to the University of Cambridge; Miscellaneous Tracts and Observations on the most importantSub. jects of Political Economy, by the Rev. F.R. Matthias, of the East India College; -The Fourth Volume of the Prize Es says and Transactions of the Highland Society of Scotland, edited by Henry Mackenzie, Esq.;-A System of Mechanical Philosophy, by the late John Robison, LL.D., Professor of Natural Philosophy in the University of Edinburgh, in 4 vols. 8vo., with plates; Observations on the Fifth Apocalyptic Vial, with a Reply to Mr. Faber, by Mr. Frere;-A Catalogue of Books on Sale by Mr. Rusher, of Reading, containing, among a large variety of arti cles, a thousand under the designation of "ancient, curious, and rare," by subscription, (price to subscribers, 9s. boards);—An 8vo volume of Sermons CHRIST. OBSERV. No. 165. on Subjects connected with the Faith and Practice of Christians, by the Rev, G. Campbell, Stockbridge, near Dunbar. In our volume for 1807, p. 190, we gave at full length the object and conditions of one of the greatest literary prizes ever given in this island. It was decided at Aberdeen, on the 4th of August.-Mr. Burnett, a merchant in that city, bequeathed by his will a sum to be allowed to accumulate until it should amount to 16001. sterling, and to be then given in two prizes, the first of 12001, and the second of 4001. to two writers who should, in the opinion of three judges chosen by the members of King's and Marischal Colleges, the Esta blished Clergy of Aberdeen, and his own Trustees, produce the best Dissertations on the subject prescribed in his will. The subject was: The Evidence that there is a Being, all-powerful, wise, and good, by whom every thing exists: and particularly to obviate Difficulties regarding the Wisdom and Goodness of the Deity; and this, in the first place, from conside rations independent of written Revelation, and, in the second place, from the Revelation of the Lord Jesus; and from the whole, to point out the inferences most necessary and useful to mankind. It was required that all the essays should be lodged with a gentleman at Aberdeen by the 1st of January, 1814; seven years were al lowed to candidates to prepare their dissertations. Repeated notices were given in the newspapers of the amount of the prizes, the subject, and the conditions. The judges appointed and sworn were, Gilbert Gerard, D. D., Professor of Divinity in King's College, Aberdeen, and author of the Institutes of Biblical Criticism; the Rev. George Glennie, Professor of Moral Philosophy in Marischal College; and Robert Hamilton, LL.D., Professor of Mathematics in the same College, and author of a work on the National Debt, and various other well-known publications. At a meeting of their electors, held on the 4th of August, in Marischal College, the three judges reported, that they had unanimously decreed the prizes to twe 4 L 1 dissertations; and on opening the sealed a pleasant, safe, and expeditious mode letters accompanying those disserta-, of conveyance; the voyage, a distance tions, which contained the name and of 66 miles, being frequently performed address of the writers, it was discovered in five or six hours. Another has been that the twelve hundred pounds prize established between London and Marwas due to W. L. Brown, D. D., Prin- gate. cipal of Marischal College, &c. &c., and that of four hundred pounds, to J. B. Sumner, Esq., of Eton College. Dr. Brown has gained several literary prizes on the continent. The Royal Irish Academy propose to give a premium, not exceeding fifty pounds, to the author of the best Essay on the following subject: "On the mixture of Fable and Fact in the early Annals of Ireland, and the best modes of ascertain ing what degree of credit these antient documents are justly entitled to." Essays are to be sent in to the Academy-house, Grafton-street, Dublin, any time previous to the 14th of March, 1816. The quantity of cloth manufactured last year in Yorkshire, considerably exceeded that of the preceding. In the West Riding alone, no less than 1,641,315 additional yards were produced. Steam-boats are now coming into general use. One has been established between Hull and Selby, which forms The improvements in Scotland have extended to the Hebrides. In the Isle of Skye, roads and piers are forming; some villages are building, and several plantations have been laid out. A quarry of white free-stone has been discovered on the island of Rasay, of which Mr. M'Leod, the proprietor, is erecting a mansion. Porter brewed in London by the . 161,618 .... 123,100 119,333 72,080 56,922 51,297 36,104 32,256 LIST OF NEW PUBLICATIONS: MISCELLANEOUS. Hints from an Invalid Mother to her Daughter, on Subjects connected with Moral and Religious Improvement in the Conduct of Life, in various Relations; by Anna Williams. 2s. 6d. Private Education; or, a Practical Plan for the Studies of Young Ladies; by Eliz. Appleton. 12mo. 7s. 6d. The Art of Writing: being a new system of superior swift-writing, in six lessons; to which is added an Entire New System for Writing Figures: both founded on mathematical principles, and simplified; by G. B. King, Professor of Fine and Ornamental Writing. vants of the Company; by Alexander Fraser Tytler. 2 vols. 8vo. 18s. Consolation, with other Poems; by the Rev. Wm. Gillespie. 8vo. 12s. Minutes of Cancer and Cancerous Tendency, in Whitbread's Ward, in Middlesex Hospital; by Samuel Young. 8vo. 78. Memoir on the Ruins of Babylon; by Claudius Jas. Rich, Esq., illustrated by engravings. Royal 8vo. 8s.. Wood's Athenæ Oxonienses: the His tory of all the Writers and Bishops who have had their Education in the University of Oxford; very considerably augmented both in text and notes, and continued to the year 1800; by Philip Bliss, Esq. Vol. II. royal 4to. 41. 48. A Narrative of the late Mr. W. D. Sandys, of Trinity College, Cambridge. 8vo. 2s. Memoirs of Mrs. H. Newell, wife of the Rev. Samuel Newell, Missionary to India, from America: with her Funeral Discourse; by Dr. Woods. 4s. Annual Register, for the Year 1814, 8vo. 16s. A Complete Collection of State Trials, from the earliest Period to the present . Time; by T. B. Howell, Esq. F.R.S. F.S A. Vol. 21. royal 8vo. 11. J1s. 6d. A History of the British Islands (Great Britain and the Islands that with it compose a Geographical Group) from the earliest Accounts to the Year 1907, including the French Revolution and its portentous Consequences; by the Rev. James Gordon. 4 vols. 8vo. 21. 5s. 6d. A new Table of Rates of the Assessed Taxes, payable from the 5th of April, 1815; with the Rules for charging them, Exemptions, &c.; by Geo. Pyne Andrewes, attorney at law, Bristol. 8vo. 2s. The Office of Constable, being an entirely new Compendium of the Law concerning that ancient Minister for the Conservation of the Peace; carefully compiled from the best Authorities, with an Introduction, containing the Origin RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE. LOUISIANA BIBLE SOCIETY. A REPORT made in April last, by the Board of Managers of the Louisiana Bible Society, instituted 9th March, 1813, has been received by us from New Orleans. What follows is an extract from it. The Bibles (in English) and the New Testaments (in French) which we have hitherto circulated are the donations of other sister societies. "From the New-York Bible Society was received in the summer of 1813a donation of 150 English Bibles. From the Massachusetts Bible Society, was received in the month of February, 1815,adonation of 140 English Bibles. The Philadelphia Bible Society has forwarded 3000 French New Testaments, a part of the edition of 5000 which that Society, aided by sister societies and different individuals, has printed for gratuitous distribution among the French of the state of Louisiana and the territories of Missouri and Illinois. "From the British and Foreign Bible Society, the parent of 1000 like institutions, existing in Europe and America, we have to acknowledge a generous donation of 1007. sterling; one among many other instances of the very extended and benevolent views of that most noble institution of modern times. "Of the English Bibles, there have been distributed, 64 among 300 British prisoners in the public prison of New, Orleans: 30 among 300 patients of the Hospital (of whom 180 were British prisoners) : 31 among 240 sick in hospitals, of the Kentucky militia: 31 among 265 sick in hospitals, of the Tennessee militia: 34 among 360 sick in hospitals, of the Louisiana militia: 8 among 50 sick in the United States navy hospital: 36 among heads of American families in the County of Attakapas: 12 among beads of American families in Florida: 44 to individuals in New Orleans: 290 in the whole; leaving the Society without a single English Bible, at a time too in which numerous applications are making for them. "Of 3000 copies of the French New Testament, received in this city, there have been distributed, 2000 among the inhabitants of New-Orleans and its environs: 112 have been sent for distribution to the county of Natchitoches: 42 for the county of Rapides: 200 to the county of Attakapas: of the French New Testament, 800 copies have also been forwarded by the Philadelphia Bible Society and committed to the care of different gentlemen residing on the river between this city and Natchez, for gratuitous distribution among the inhabitants of their vicinity. "The want of Bibles in Louisiana has been extreme: and it will yet require a very considerable number to supply in an adequate manner, the families which are destitute of the word of God.-Had 3000 English Bibles and as many New Testaments been in the hands of the managers at the beginning of the past winter, they could have been distributed in this city with the greatest facility, and it is believed with much advantage: so good an opportunity will not probably occur for some time to come. Our regular troops and militia then here were remarkably destitute of the Scriptures. "It was very unusual to find any portion of the sacred volume among our soldiers: and in many instances there were found an hundred sick assembled in an hospital, without having among them one Bible or New Testa ment. "Some of the Tennessee militia, when passing through Nashville on their way to New-Orleans had inquired in vain for a Bible: not one was to be found for sale; and in the month of December last a similar inquiry was fruitlessly made in this city by a gentleman from the Amite; nor is there at this moment a Bible to be purchased in any book store in the city of New-Orleans. "The inhabitants of Florida, who are principally Americans, are generally without the Scriptures; so are the other Americans, for the most part, throughout the state. It has been supposed, and it is believed with the strictest correctness, that before the transmission of a few French Bibles to New-Orleans by the British and Foreign Bible Society in the year 1813, there were notten among the French inhabitants of Louisiana. "The manner in which the Scriptures bave been received by those to whom they have been distributed is highly gratifying; and encourages the belief that the labours of those who have united in this work will not be lost, "The Tennessee and Kentucky troops received the Bibles with no ordinary willingness: it seemed to be received by many of them as a pearl of great price. "As there were not Bibles sufficient to supply even the sick in hospitals, who were anxious to receive them, it was not uncommon to see one reading aloud to several around; and at other times two or three lying on the floor together would be attempting to read in the same book at the same time. Some of those who had received Bibles declared a determination to carry them home with them on foot 800 or 1000 miles; and rather than not carry them they said they would throw away part of their baggage. "The French have received the New Testament with much satisfaction: it is possible that some have asked for it from curiosity; but very many have done so from a wish to search the Scriptures, which numbers declared they had never seen before. It must give pleasure to every philanthropic mind to learn that the rising generation in this city, heretofore almost destitute of any book of instruction, has now a classbook used throughout our schools; that those children whose parents were unable from the exorbitant price of school books, and the pressure of the war, to furnish them, have now a book which has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth without any mixture of error for its matter.' "Although the 8000 copies of the New Testament in French had been received by the President of the Society about the middle of December last; owing to the disturbed situation of the country, at that time invaded, none of them were distributed until about the 10th of February: after a few persons had received the New Testament, and it had become generally known that there were more in the hands of one of the managers who had been appointed to make the gratuitous distribution of the whole number designed for the city, the applications were more frequent than could be supplied; a large crowd of some hundreds of people of all colours and ranks was formed before the bouse, and became literally elamorous to have a book; a word which was often vociferated in French by fifty voices at once. "Such an assembly, for such a parpose, never before witnessed in Louisiana, presented to the beholder many affecting scenes: the young and the old, the rich and the poor, as if alike conscious of their wants, pressed forward with outstretched hands to receive the valuable gift. A child not more than five or six years of age, was borne in the arms of its mother, a Woman of Colour, press. ing through the crowd as one of the candidates for a treasure which she seemed justly to estimate: the silence and attention exhibited by the byestanders was immediately rewarded by hearing this iufant read in an intelligent manner the story related in Mark x. 13-16. rendered doubly interesting by the incidents. "As all who presented themselves for a French New Testament were asked if they could read, and, if any doubts existed, were put to the trial; an aged Black Woman being asked the usual question, and requested to prove the fact, answered that she could not without her spectacles, which she had hot with her; but, unwilling to depart until the object of her wishes had been obtained, she renewed her application, and observed to the distributor, If I get a book by a falsehood, it will not be deceiving you but God.' Many persons who could not read themselves wished the New Testament for their children, who they said would read it for them. “The managers have received the Hearty co-operation of various individuals in distributing the French New Testaments. The reverend father Antonio de Sedilla, the curate of the parish, has taken an active part in aiding the circulation of the New Testament among the Catholics: the countenance given by him to the views of the society is of the highest importance from the great influence which he has among his parishioners. We acknowledge like wise with pleasure the aid of several gentlemen in the country; nor in any instance has assistance been refufed. "The British prisoners, to whom a portion of the English Bibles were distributed, manifested the sincerest joy and gratitude: most of them had been supplied with Bibles or Testaments previous to their embarkation for this country; and some (as appeared by a printed notification in the Testaments) by the Naval Bible Association established as long ago as 1780; but having left their heavy baggage at their camp on the 8th of January, the day on which a general assault was made on the lines near this city, they became destitute when made prisoners. "During the past year this society has received many interesting reports from the numerous Bible Societies now established in the United States:--the information contained in them is in a high degree gratifying and encouraging to the promoters of these associations. The committee cannot omit on this occasion earnestly to recommend the perusal of such reports: they afford the best views of the design, the utility and progress of these societies. "Before concluding this Report, the Committee beg leave to call upon the Society for a cordial union in the vigorous prosecution of diffusing the light of the glorious Gospel of the blessed God.' "The Gospel is intrusted to us not for our own sakes only, but for the be nefit of the world. We receive that we may communicate. Religion, like other blessings, is to be diffused by human agency and human benevolence. It has flowed to us through the zeal and labour of those who have gone before us; and we are bound to repay the debt by spreading it around us, and transmitting it unimpaired to succeeding ages. To this most worthy cause of God and Holiness, of human happiness and virtue; a cause which can never fail, which is destined to survive the schemes of statesmen and the trophies of conquerors; let us attach ourselves with a disinterested and persevering zeal, which will prove us followers of him who lived and died to enlighten and redeein mankind.' "Great and magnificent is the undertaking in which we are engaged; great. too are the consequences which we may rationally hope will be their re sult. "Let no minor difficulties impede our progress; rather let them animate our exertions and quicken our pace. The hundredth part of the zeal and humanity of a Howard, exerted by each of us, would convey the Bible to the most. secluded mansion in our country— would put into the hands of the widow,' the fatherless, and the afflicted, the words of everlasting consolation. A zeal like his pervading our institutions. would print the word of God in every language of the earth, and give to every son of Adam' the Scriptures which are able to make wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus Let no objections of infidels, or pretended friends, make us hesitate or swerve from the way: though the Bible alone has not yet converted whole nations, it may be the first step in the grand undertaking: it may prepare the way for missionaries: and though in countries denominated Christian much ignorance and vice may remain after the Bible has been generally distributed, no one can say that it may not have extirpated much which would have taken root had no exertions been made to repress them. The operation of the Bible is necessarily gradual and noiseless. Its province is the heart, and its best fruits are those mild and humble virtues, which ask no notice but from the eye of God. It is enough to know, that we have sown the good seed of Divine Truth, and we may |