vation. The reigns of the two Electors, and their influence on their Saxon subjects amply prove it; and may I not add that the coincidence and parallel between theirs and our venerated King's is not less complete in this than in other conspicuous instances? A reign of unprecedented duration, and of unexampled consistency, in which the ruler himself exhibited the most submissive deference to those laws, human or divine, which he commended to the observance of his subjects, a reign in the dawn of which youthful temptations were subdued, and in the progress of which personal and social virtue was cultivated, and this on Christian principle, and with a perpetual reference to his Creator, Redeemer, and Judge; a reign in which mildness and decision walked hand in hand, and toleration on the one part, and prudence and regard to established usages on the other, were perpetually exercised; a reign in which some of the most fearful dangers, both secular and moral, threatened us, but the turbulent rage of which was restrained till we heard them called off like the thunder clouds of a lowering sky to utter their desolations elsewhere; a reign in

which such amendments were made in our civil polity as compel universal praise, and a reign too of unexampled Christian benevolence,must surely be blessed: and such a monarch must live long in the memories, and hearts, and habits of his subjects. The epitaph of John I. the illustrious Elector, would well apply to him.

Asseruit Christi lingua professa fidem. Notior ut fieret divini gloria Verbi, Temporibus fulsit quæ rediviva suis : UtqueEvangelii studium deponere vellet Ista sibi incendit constantia pectoris, Flectere illum nullæ potuere minæ.

hostes

Attulit, et passim multa pericla sibi. Sed illum protexit difficili tempore Christus, Et gratam pacem pro pietate dedit.

He was found firm to his country and to his God: open in the avowal of his religious principles, consistent in the performance of his religious duties, and happy in the possession of his religious hopes. Licentiousness and vice were frowned away from his presence and his court: slander was overcome by well-doing, and sarcasm disarmed by benevolence. Morality was every where encouraged under his auspi cious smile, and the whole country was the better for his example as well as his dominion; perhaps preserved, under God, in a considerable degree by it from the contagion of demoralizing habits and revolutionary sentiments, and rejoicing in its security and exemption from many of the calamities which other nations have suffered.

H.

To the Editor of the Christian Observer.

ALLOW a stranger to the Christian Observer, to send you an extract from a communication just received from a friend in Massachusetts, on a subject on which all sects and parties, who have any portion of the spirit of their Divine Master, must cordially unite; namely, that

of the iniquity of the slave trade and its ruinous consequences, and this whether as it respects the oppressor or the oppressed.

My friend, speaking of the application recently made to the American Congress for the admission of the Missouri Territory as one of the United States, with the permission to hold Slaves, proceeds as follows:-" It was generally believed that Congress would not grant such an indulgence; that it would be a violation of the Bill of Rights, on which our Constitution was founded, as well as of the principles of justice and humanity. Both in the Senate and Congress, the question whether Missouri should be admitted with or without the restriction, was agitated in warm debate, and in some most impressive speeches. All that learning, humanity, a regard to sound policy, and a respect for the principles of our free government, could adduce in favour of restricting slavery in the new state, exhibited with the most powerful and impressive eloquence, failed, alas! of effecting their benevolent purpose. Their pleadings fell upon deafened ears, and moved not hearts indurated by selfishThe bill for the admission of Missouri into the Union passed the House of Representatives without the restrictive clause prohibiting slavery, though only by a majority of four votes ;-against the restriction 90, for the restriction 86;-so that Missouri is permitted to become a slave-holding state!"

ness,

My correspondent thus proceeds: "It is impossible to describe the feelings of surprize and regret which this decision has occasioned in all the New England States. The friends of humanity and freedom are palsied with the shock. Not only will this be the means of continuing and extending the most unchristian and disgraceful practice of keeping Slaves, but of opening a new mart for the sale, and

thus furnishing slave-traders and kidnappers with inducements to procure per fas aut nefas,' new supplies by importation.'

My friend adds: "In connexion with this lamentable result, is another occurrence painful in the extreme. You have doubtless heard that the most distressing fire ever known in this country extended its ravages in Savannah, the capital of Georgia. A tender feeling for the sufferers called out very liberal contributions for their relief, particularly in the Northern States. In the city of New York, the sum of twelve thousand dollars was promptly subscribed and forwarded, with a request that such People of Colour as were sufferers might participate in the distribution. This gave umbrage to the city council of Savannah, who sent back the money to the donation committee of New York, because they considered it as encumbered with a condition with which they were unwilling to comply. How strange, how passing strange, that the pride of domination over a humbled race of wretched people should so operate and prevail as to produce the rejection of a charity, in which benevolence had hoped, that however cruelly degraded, they might have equitably shared! How apparent, that the possession of Slaves renders the heart of the master not merely insensible to the obligations of humanity, but even to the claims of compassion and mercy!"

It is some satisfaction, Mr. Editor, to know assuredly, that among the more enlightened part of our transatlantic brethren, of whatever sect or party, this most unchristian transaction is so strongly reprobated. I am not at liberty, without his permission, to give the name of my correspondent; but as a proof of my full conviction of the correctness of his account, I beg leave to subscribe my own,

CATHARINE CAPPE,

BEFORE we proceed to extract a few passages from this interesting volume, it may be satisfactory to give a slight sketch of the personal history of its lamented author.— J. L. Burckhardt was the son of a

distinguished family of Basle in Switzerland, but was himself born at Lausanne. His father began life with auspicious prospects, but the French Revolution blighted all his hopes, and it was with difficulty that his life was preserved from the scaffold. Having entered a Swiss regiment in English pay, he left his wife and family at Basle, where

From the similarity of names, as well as the scene of their travels, it may be necessary to caution the reader against confounding J. L. Burckhardt with the Rev. Christopher Burkhardt. The latter, like the author of the present work, was a well informed and enterprising traveller: he performed ar arduous tour through Egypt, Palestine, and Syria for the express purpose of distributing the holy Scriptures; and died in August 1818, at Aleppo, of a malignant fever, after a short but most indefatigable career of only eight months devoted to the object of his benevolent mission. He was supported by the private contributions of a few friends; but his labours were dedicated to objects of public utility, and both the Bible Society and the Church Missionary Society will long regret his loss. Like John Lewis Burckhardt, he was eminently qualified for his enterprize by a spirit above fear; but he had other qualities, which, as we shall see in the course of our remarks, we in vain look for in the traveller whose posthumous work lies before us. He was " full of the Holy Ghost and of faith;" and was willing to bear his constant and undaunt ed testimony to the truth of the Gospel of his Redeemer in scenes of the greatest danger.

Lewis was a daily witness to the miseries inflicted by the republican French, and grew up with a detestation of their principles, and a resolution never to bend under their yoke. At the age of sixteen he was placed at the university of Leipsic, whence, in four years, he removed to that of Gottingen. ` la both places he maintained a high character for frankness, cheerfulness, kindness, and evenness of temper. His talents also were of a high order, and his zeal in the pursuit of knowledge was unwearied. Unable to find any nation on the continent not under the sway of France, he repaired to England in self to the late Sir Joseph Banks, the year 1806, and introduced him

whose connexion with the association for making discoveries in Africa soon led Burckhardt to offer his services as an explorer under its tion of the dangers of the service patronage. A strong representahaving been made to him, and his resolution still remaining unshaken, his offer was gladly accepted. Indeed, he was admirably adapted for the project, as well by the qualifications already mentioned, as by great vigour of constitution, a powerful ascendency of mind, and an edness to his object. Having preinflexible perseverance and devotpared himself, both mentally and physically, for his employment, by the study of Arabic, chemistry, astronomy, mineralogy, medicine, and surgery, and by taking long journeys bare-headed in the sun, sleeping upon the ground, and living on vegetables and water, he set sail from Cowes in March 1809, and arrived at Malta the following month. To facilitate the purposes of his mission, he not only assumed the oriental costume and language, but professed himself a Mohammedan; a circumstance to which we shall have further occasion to allude in the conclusion of our remarks. From Malta he proceeded

to Aleppo, and remained two years and a half in Syria, adding to his practical knowledge of Arabic, and familiarising himself to Mohammedan society and manners, in order to perfect himself in the part which he was to act, and which was considered essential to his success in penetrating the north-eastern tracts of Africa, to which his journey was ultimately to be directed. From Aleppo we find him making various tours, and visiting, among other places, Palmyra, Damascus, Mount Libanus and Anti-Libanus, and the unexplored country of the Haouran, or Auranitis. We again find him at Tiberias and Nazareth; thence crossing the eastern side of the Jordan, and proceeding through the countries to the east and south of the Dead Sea, until he arrived at Wady Mousa, whence he pursued a westerly course towards the capial of Egypt across the valley of Arabia. From Cairo he was to penetrate the northern countries of the Great Desert, and thence to proceed towards the Niger, in order to explore the vast unknown tracks of internal Africa. A variety of circumstances delayed this journey; it being the wish of his employers, as well as the dictate of his own prudence, not to risk his personal safety, and the final object of his enterprize, by proceeding till he was fully qualified to sustain his part, and till a favourable opportunity occurred of joining a caravan bound for the interior.

In the interval he performed two arduous journeys into Nubia; the former in the direction of the Nile as far south as Dongola; the Jatter still farther south, as far as Shendy, and from that place to the eastward towards the Red Sea at Souakin. These two journeys form the subject of the present volume. It may therefore only be necessary to say further, for the purpose of connecting the narrative, that he crossed the Red Sea, and performed the Mussulman pilgrimage to Mecca, whence he proCHRIST. OBSERV, No. 223,

ceeded to Medina, and finally returned to Cairo, with a view to proceed on his ulterior designation. In the mean time, he drew up and transmitted to England an account of the whole of this extensive journey. The portion of it, as far as Souakin, is now before us; the remainder is preparing for publication, and is stated to contain the most complete account ever transmitted to Europe of Arabian society and manners, and particularly of the district called the Hadjaz, including the cities of Mecca and Medina, and of the Hadj or pilgrimage; his appearance as a Mohammedan having afforded him unequalled opportunities for acquiring information. His other manuscripts also, relative to Syria and the Holy Land, are in a course of publication, and are spoken of as peculiarly interesting. His projected journey into the interior of Africa was never performed, this enterprising traveller having expired at Cairo on the 15th October 1817. His constitution seems never to have recovered from the effects of his Arabian journey, having suffered severely from the climate of that country, which is almost proverbially fatal to Europeans. The account of his death we reserve to our concluding remarks.

Our readers will not expect us to follow the track of Mr. Burckhardt step by step; and to abridge his narrative into a barren itinerary would neither be profitable nor entertaining. A few miscellaneous passages are all that we can profess to offer.

The first class of extracts, and those which we are sure will be most eagerly looked for by a considerable portion of our readers, are such as illustrate biblical customs and allusions. The passages of this kind which we selected from Mr. Morier's second journey to Persia, (see Christian Observer for 1819, p. 798), we have reason to believe were perused with much, interest; and we think it a service 3 N