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be brethren in Christ Jesus, and children of God by faith. Who, that knows the blessings of salvation, and has tasted that the Lord is gracious, could refuse to say Amen, to such a prayer, in such an assembly?' pp. 25–33.

A sermon followed, which was translated, sentence by sentence, by old Kusack, the interpreter; after which, one of the Indians was called upon to pray in his native language before the whole assembly, both Whites and Indians, to the God and Father of all. The service was concluded by singing a hymn, and the benediction. The Writer subsequently introduced himself to Mr. Crane, and from him he received some highly satisfactory details relative to the subjects of his ministerial labours. His congregation consisted of thirteen regular members, six men and seven women; but, besides these, a considerable number attended constantly, of many of whom he entertained a favourable opinion.

Mr. Crane assured me, that a very beneficial change has been produced on the Tuscaroras by the introduction of Christianity. They were, some years ago, in a state of as great debasement as many of the other nations; but now, out of the three hundred of which the nation consists, there are but ten who ever indulge to excess in spirituous liquors. Even these do it but seldom, and are so conscious of their fault, that for a considerable time after each such occurrence, they keep as much out of sight as possible, till they think their misdemeanour has been forgotten. They now pay considerable attention to agriculture, and not only raise Indian corn, which requires little labour, and of which all the nations raise a little; but have begun to cultivate wheat, which is a much more valuable crop, and though it requires greater care, is less affected by the vicissitudes of the weather, and can therefore with much more confidence be relied on as a security against want. They are, as a nation, honest in their transactions with each other, and industrious in labouring for the support of themselves and their families. The benefits of Christianity, therefore, are not confined to those who have made a public profession of it, but it has greatly improved the whole nation. A standard of honesty and morality has been introduced among them; they have been taught to regard the good opinion of others, and to consider themselves as members of a body, for the good of which, all are bound to labour. pp. 50, 51.

It is not among the Tuscaroras alone, that missionaries are labouring; the work has been begun among some of the southern nations, with a prospect of success. The Writer was present when a sermon was preached at New York for the benefit of a mission among the Cherokees, at which four young men of that nation, who were educating as missionaries and teachers, formed part of the audience. But the Five Nations, viz. the Mohawks, Oncydas, Onondagoes, Cayugas, and Senecas, of whom the scattered remains are chiefly collected at an Indian village near

Buffalo, continue obstinately to oppose all attempts to evangelize them. A New York newspaper states, that at a Council fire held in the Spring of 1819, they solemnly resolved not to encourage the introduction of Christianity among them; thereby, in effect, signing their own death warrant.' It is added: This remnant of the Five Nations will not exist much longer; no nations ever decreased with so much rapidity.' The renovating influence of the Christian religion,' remarks Mr. Duncan, would yet have saved them from extinction; but this effectual and only remedy they spurn from them, and soon will it be with them as a tale that is told." The tract concludes with a pressing appeal to the Christian reader, on behalf of the missionary cause, which, we hope, will not be unavailing.

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Art. VIII. Hints on the Sources of Happiness. Addressed to her Children by a Mother, Author of " Always Happy," &c. 12mo. 2 vols. pp. 680. London. 1819.

IT would be in the highest degree uncandid, to withhold praise from the intentions which dictated the present work. But the plea of maternal anxiety, as the motive to the undertaking, can avail only thus far, to make us respect the amiable character of the mother, while we examine the more doubtful claims of the Author.

Had the Writer, instead of setting herself to establish a theory, been content to suggest such practical hints on the sources of happiness as might have directed her readers to the diligent improvement of the actual means of enjoyment, it is possible, that she might have produced a useful and lively work. But she has fallen into the same error as a learned Divine did before her, whose treatise on Human Happiness, fell some years ago under our notice:* She has thought it requisite, in order to vindicate the ways of God to man, and the best means also of making her children happy, to shew that the unhappiness of mankind is a grand mistake; that men are not so unhappy as they imagine they feel themselves to be; that, at all events, they have no occasion to be unhappy, for there are but two causes for rational sorrow,-the death of friends, and the conscious'ness of guilt;'--of which two evils, the former has its consolations, and the latter its benefits;' and that three fourths of 'those who grieve, do so without adequate cause, or from causes 'distinct from fate. To which is gravely added, that, when 'misery is not chimerical, it is either produced by ourselves or our fellow-creatures,'-for instance, by their dying! The process of reasoning by which these several propositions are established, introduce the discovery (p. 56) of another valuable 'fact;'

* Eclectic Review, N.S. Vol. I. pp. 545.

That as that medium, virtue, is attainable to all ranks and degrees of intellect and fortune, so also is happiness within the reach of all. A conclusion perfectly compatible with all that reason and religion inculcates, and beautifully in unison with the known justice of a superintending Providence.'

We wonder what would be the effect upon this good lady's ideas of the known justice of Providence, as resting upon the equal distribution of the means of virtue and happiness, were she suddenly to find herself transported to the scene of missionary exertions among the Hindoos. Probably, she regards as very unnecessary, the great stir which is made about the conversion of those amiable idolaters. What cause for rational sorrow' can they have, since their minds are undisturbed by the consciousness of guilt,' and they are actually found assisting in the death of their relatives with the most obliging alacrity?

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But the glaring absurdity of these statements, does not form the ground of so serious a charge against the Writer, as the dangerous tendency of her notions of morality.

In a general sense, we must,' she says, be permitted to estimate actions as they receive the approbation or reprehension of our fellowcreatures. How otherwise can we rate them?'

Scripture represents the praise of God and the praise of man as at variance, so that things which are in high esteem among men, are an abomination to Him.* But of the assistance of Scripture, the Writer has not thought it necessary to avail herself. She quotes David Hume; and so, strange to tell, she does Hannah More. She quotes, too, a Dr. Gregory, we know not what Dr. Gregory, as advancing the assertion, that To affirm that God cannot dispense with his own prescience, is to 'say, that God is not omnipotent.' The confusion of ideas in this string of words, we should be loath to charge on any author of respectability. But the length and breadth of the present Writer's religious sentiments, are more unequivocally exhibited in the concluding chapter, where she closes her remarks on religion, with the creed' of the ingenious and amiable Dr. Franklin,' who has left behind him the assurance that the system of morals and religion taught by Jesus of Nazareth, had his decided approbation.

We cannot refrain from adding one hint on the sources of happiness, which we wish might be impressed on all the readers into whose bands these volumes may fall: in the old-fashioned work we have already alluded to, one of the sacred penmen says, "I have more understanding than all my teachers, for THY tes"timonies are my meditation."

On this subject, the Writer might be advantageously referred to an admirable sermon in Dr, Chalmers's last volume.

Art IX. A Letter to the Right Hon. Charles B. Bathurst, M. P. on the Subject of the Poor Laws. By Richard Blakemore, Esq. 8vo. pp. 34. London, 1819.

THE

THE Writer of this Letter was one of the gentlemen deputed by the iron trade of South Wales, to oppose the Poor Law Settlement Bill, when pending in Parliament. He is also, it appears, a magistrate. The suggestions of every respectable individual of this rank in society, are to be invited, and they claim attention.

Mr. Blakemore represents, that by far the greater part of the litigations respecting Settlements, would be obviated, were the magistrate, instead of granting an order for removal, on the ex parte statement of the parish officer,-from which order, the parish to which the pauper is adjudged, can obtain relief only by appeal to the quarter sessions,-to transmit notice of the application for removal, to the pauper's supposed parish, and, in case of dispute, to have their appeal, and the evidence upon which it rests, laid before him, before the order is made final. Upon the painful dilemma in which magistrates are placed, in making an order final upon hearing only one half of the evidence, I may appeal,' says the Writer, to the experience of nearly every magistrate in the kingdom.?

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Another suggestion relates to the deficiency of the security which the public at present possess, that the money professedly raised for the relief of the poor, is duly and rigidly applied to its legitimate object. Mr. B. contends, that, upon this subject, there has existed the most unaccountable, the most culpable ' remissness,' to which is attributable in a considerable degree, 'the dreadful extension of pauperism.' The provisions of the several statutes respecting parish accounts, he remarks, are found, in practice, to be useless and inoperative.

The cause whereof, I think, may be traced to these funds having always been considered as of a private character; and to the presumption that, the parish in which they are paid having alone to do with their appropriation, as it is the interest, so it will be the practice of some individuals in it, to be vigilant in regulating the expenditure: but we too well know how parish business is conducted to admit this conclusion. Every day's experience shews, that what is the business of every body, is the business of nobody; and in every parish there are besides numerous individuals who pay to the rates, and are incapacitated, or otherwise prevented from interfering in their appropriation. The principle I therefore wish to introd ce is, that not only the parish but the public at large also are interested in the expenditare of this money; and then it will follow, that such method and arrangement must be introduced into the accounts, they must be subjected to the same publicity and scrutiny, and ultimately to the same

parliamentary control as exists in respect to all other branches of our public expenditure.'

But the leading suggestion of the present Writer, is of a more startling nature. It is no other than this, that relief shall be given to the pauper only as a loan redeemable by actual labour; that it shall constitute a debt to the public, for which the public, that is, as it should seem, the State, may demand an equivalent in civil or military service; that the pauper shall sell to the State, or to the parish as the agent of the State, a certain portion of his freedom for so much bread and cheese, unless he can, within, as we imagine, a specified time, repay the amount of the relief which has been advanced to him. What is to become of his family, if he has any, while he is serving out the period of his slavery, Mr. B. does not mention. And there are other difficulties in the way of the scheme, of which he takes as little notice. The idea appears to have been borrowed from the policy of a celebrated Oriental statesman, named Zaphnathpaaneah, who, when the people had given all their money and all their herds, and had nought left but their bodies and their lands to sell for bread, bought both the men and their fields for Pharaoh, and removed the people to cities from one border of the country to the other; so, they were Pharaoh's servants. The State, however, has at present quite as many servants as it knows how to feed, leaving pay out of the question. Since, therefore, this new army of pauper borrowers must eat while they work out their debt, we do not see how the public would be much benefited by the proposed measure. We quite participate in Mr. Blakemore's indignation at sinecurists; but we cannot agree with him in regarding the poor in this light. 'The pensioners, placemen, and sinecurists,' he says, 'who

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really eat up the vitals of the State, are those who abusively partake of the eight millions a year raised for poor rates, upon the industry and tenantry of the country.' How a poor man who works hard all the six days for half the proper wages of labour, and has it made up to him 12s. a week out of the poor rate, can be styled a placeman or a sinecurist, we leave Mr. Blakemore to explain, and our readers to judge.

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