some time before we obtain the superiority but be assured, that time will come, and then it will be your turn to repay our adversaries with the scorn and contempt, with which we are, and for some time shall be treated. Is it possible that any one, who reads the life of our beloved master, can entertain such an opinion? much less can we who are Christians suppose, that he would consent that any man, who names the name of Christ, should attempt to vindicate his honour by exposing the reviler to worldly punishment. The thing is impossible. The man who injures another by thought, word or deed, on account of his not being a Christ an, or because he treats the Christian religion with contumely, forgets the precepts of our holy master, and acts decidedly against the spirit of Christ and his religion.

The last month has exhibited a sight, which afflicts us with the deepest concern. It has afforded a triumph to int delity. We lament the situation of all who have been concerned in this unhappy business, the prosecutors as well as the prosecuted. The man who was adjudged to stand in the pillory, for reviling in print the Christian religion, and treating Christ as an impostor, has undergone this part of his sentence. He was taken in the usual manner from the prison, and exposed on this disgraceful stage to the populace. This punishment was intended to hold up the sufferer to contempt, and to deter all others from exposing themselves, by a similar crime, to similar ignominy. In many cases the punishment is a very severe one, as it respects the body, which is exposed to injury, from the filth, dirt and stones, thrown at it by the beholders. In this case, however, nothing of this kind appeared No insult whatever was offered to the criminal, but on the contrary, he was received with greetings of applause, and any one who had offered him the accustomed insults, would have run a great risk of being torn to pieces. Perhaps, it is some credit to the country, that there was not an individual in it so depraved in mind, as to offer any insult whatever to the object on the pillory.

The langua re, used by the multitude, shewed the gener i sense of the proceedings of this unhappy day. why is he pit on the pillory? said one. For writ ing against the Bible, replied another.

How can that be, says a third, when we pay so many millions a year to the parsons: cannot they find one to answer his book? What do men do, when they cannot answer an argument? cries one; Knock down their opponent says another. A pillory is a poor way of settling a question, exclaims a third-and in this way the hour allotted by the law was passed, in gibes and jeers, and the person intended to be exposed to public shame, was encouraged in his career, by the applause of the people, and the bitterest sarcasms against his opponents.

What a lesson does not this hold up to all who name the name of Christ, who profess the Christian religion, who sincerely wish for its triumph in the world. Great has been the apostacy from our holy religion, and horrible have been the maxims set up by those, professed to be gu ded by the precepts of the Lamb of God. No wild beasts could be more furious than these professing Christians, who thought that they di God service, in torturing their fellow-creatures, and exposing them to every kind of death and disgrace. Happily much of that unhallowed temper, that diabolical spirit has subsided: but its prevalence at one time should set every man upon his guard against the deceitfulness of his own heart, and lead him seriously to enquire, how far if circumstances brought round a similar temper, he would be led by the doctrines of the gospel, to which party he would adhere, that of the persecutors, the great, the noble, the rich, and the learned, with the great body of the people, or that of the persecuted, the despised, and the few. We mention this with greater seriousness, because the case of the unhappy man, who has given rise to these remarks, has led us to ask the question of very worthy people, how far they approved of this mode of treating an infidel. They were approvers of the Bible and the Missionary Societies; they read with pleasure the exertions of Christians to destroy religions established in other parts of the world, yet from some strong prejudice in their minds, they thought. a pillory a proper way of supporting Christianity in this country, and could not see that it militated with the lawS and precepts of Christ.

From this subject, which is intended only for serious Christians, we turn to an occurrence, which affords us great satisfaction and as in our last month's

Retrospect, the conduct of the Friends appeared in a very unfavourable light, we are very glad to see then. step forward in their true character, and to act under the genuine principles of their so ciety. To them we are indebted for the abolition of the slave trade; to them we shall, we hope, be under similar obligations for the abolition of war, a state as degrading to humanity, as it is contrary to the principles of the gospel. The lamb and the wild beast cannot have adherents in the same person, and to delight in war is a feeling that cannot be too much discouraged. The Friends have the honour of being the only sect of Christians, which has addressed the throne upon this important subject, and they have spoken, as they always do in that quarter, the language of truth and sincerity. They submit to the most serious consideration of the Prince Regent, the highly important cause of suffering humanity. War they declare to be an evil, from which the spirit of the gospel of Christ would wholly deliver the nations of the earth; and they therefore petition the Prince to take such early measures for putting a period to its dreadful devastations, as the wis dom of his counsellors, in seeking for Divine direction, will discover. The Prince received them most graciously, decla ed himself to be deeply sensible of the calamities attending a state of war, and assured them, that it would be most grateful to his feelings, to perceive such a change in the views and conduct of the enemy, as would permit him to gratify their wishes.

This address of the Friends is printed in company with others, on the subject of the death of Mr. Perceval, by the hands of an unhappy maniac, and it forms a striking contrast by its pure, affection ate but respectful style, to the fulsome adulation, which for some time past has been presented to the throne. In addresses from public bodies, whether religious or political, there cannot be a doubt, that a sovereign will be much better pleased with one, that comes in the garb of truth and sincerity, than in the hackneyed phraseology of courtly adulation, so little becoming the English constitution and the character of the people.

The act of the wretched maniac, not only deprived the country of a minister, whose loss has been deplored as if he had manifested very superior talents in

his office, but threw the higher classes into a confusion, which could not have been expected from such an event. The ministry deprived of its head, was deemed by the Con mons inefficient, and they voted an address to the Prince Regent, to request him to form one, more suited to the offices of government. In consequence the Prince commissioned the Marquis of Wellesley, to negociate with the heads of the different parties, and he laid down as a basis, conciliation with the Catholics and vigour in Spain. The remains of the administration were released from giving their opinion on either point, by their determination not to act at all with the Marquis; and the Grey and Grenville party could find objections to the latter point, and what was more, could not brook any superiority in the negociator, whose plans therefore fell to the ground, and the charge was committed to the hands of the Earl of Moira.

The earl was not more successful than his noble predecessor, and the business of the nation did not admit of farther delay. The Commons began to be im patient, when it was announced, that the Prince had appointed the Earl of Liverpool to be first Lord of the Trea. sury, Mr. Vansittart to be Chancellor of the Exchequer, Lord Castlereagh to he Secretary of State, Lord Melville First Lord of the Admiralty, and, in short, the supposed weak and ineficient administration were in full possession of power. This put the House of Commons into a very awkward situation, and their conduct became the subject of public expectation. The same gentleman, who had procured the censure of inefficiency by his original motion, brought forward another, by which eventually it was removed, for the new administration appeared to possess the fullest confidence of the House, and carried their question by a very large majority.

The public, during this time, was kept in continual agitation by letters and conversations and explanations between Lords Wellesley, Grey, Grenville, Liverpool, Melville, Moira, and Messieurs Canning, Tierney, Sheridan, &c. &c. Never were the acts of public men so publicly sifted. Every word almost that passed between them was committed immediately to writing, and circulated, by means of the newspapers, over the whole of the kingdom. The fact is, that the higher parties concerned,

acting as heads, found it necessary to explain to their respective partizans the grounds of their actions, lest they should lose any of their consequence, and thus every thing became public, and the meanest individual was thoroughly acquainted with the state of parties in this kingdom and of the degree of their influence in public affairs.

To judge rightly of these proceedings we must consider what was meant by the first vote of the house under the term of a strong and efficient administration, and this will not be well understood without adverting to the influence by which its votes are directed. The terms ministry and opposition are familiar to our ears, and besides these parties there are some stragglers not belong ing to either party, but voting according to the circumstances of the case; some of them, like Sir Francis Burdett, with avowed principles, which, if the advocates for them were numerous enough, would be considered as a strong efficient third party. In the late contest these straggiers counted for nothing, and the whole matter rested between the two parties, the opposition and the ministry, and the question was to form a union of these two bodies, by making the leaders of each the principal members of an administration. This attempt not succeeding, the question then was, whether the house of Commons would stand with the old ministry, filling up its own vacancies, or persist in petitioning the Prince to discard them and it was clearly seen that the opposition were not sufficiently strong to force a ministry upon him.

:

In fact, the whole scene presented a melancholy view of the state of party in this country; for our constitution clearly leaves the crown in possession of appointing its own servants; and if a party can make arrangements to place men in the cabinet, it can also keep them there, and the due influence of sovereign and people may be set at nought. The death of Mr. Perceval created a vacancy: why should there be so much difficulty in filling it up? Where is the necessity of so many arrangements? We are brought to the question of a true representation of the people and annual parliaments, and such proceedings as we have lately witnessed could not take place.

The ministry is still supposed to be weak In this, perhaps, there is no great harm. They must look more to

the rectitude of their measures, and the country has little reason to congratulate itself on strong administrations, or, in other words, the implicit confidence of the house of Commons in the cabinet. Already some benefit has been experienced by the change. An interruption has been made in the barrack system, the orders in council have been shaken, the language towards the Catholics is more soothing and satisfactory, and the disputes with America are likely to be discussed with greater calmness. They have negociated a loan of upwards of twenty-two milions of money, and done it upon very tolerable terms, and the question is, whether they look to the expenditure and how far they will tread in the footsteps of the most extravagant of ministers.

While these embarrassments in the political world at home have occupied the public mind, convulsions in the natural world have excited many serious thoughts.

The Carraccas have been laid desolate by an earthquake, and the island of Barbadoes has experienced shower of dust. By the awful catastrophe on the Southern continent of America, several thousand persons lost their lives: houses, public buildings and churches were mingled in one common ruin. Sympathy for the sufferers was excited in those minds which contemplate without emotion the conflict of two armies: yet, what are the ravages of nature to the desolation of many a field of battle, which the history of the last twenty years must record to the disgrace of the Christian world. The earth shook, and consigned above five thousand to death, and the mangled limbs of half-expiring persons were seen in the ruins. The shock was instantaneous, the slaughter sudden. In another place the sun shone bright; every thing around smiled with the benefits of nature: a hundred thousand men on cach side appear on an extensive plain, glit tering in all the splendour of military apparel. On a sudden, the air is rent by the discharges of cannon, smoke covers the fields, the cries of thousands and tens of thousands are heard, and the plain pre ents the horrid spectacle of myriads or carcases butchered with relentless fury. Think ye, who contemplate with horror the rare instances of destruction by nature, and are shocked at the act of one assassin, reflect on the carnage of a battle and weep for the

fallen state of human nature.

What

will be thought of these bloody conflicts when man has forgotten the idle tales of glory with which the years of our childhood have been fostered from the writings of heathens, and when he reflects on the maxims of that kingdom to which he has devoted himself, the kingdom of the Lamb, which, notwithstanding present appearan es, shall triumph over the impiety and the folly of those who delight in lood.

The heroes of this world have been in daily expectation of adding more tales of woe to their eventful history; but for what cause their swords have been so long sheathed in the scabbards we have yet to learn. Their great leader has been visiting, as it were in triumph, the cities of his confederate kings, presiding at magnificent feasts, graced by an emperor besides himself, and kings, queens, princes and princesses, all trembling at his nod, and not one of whom, twenty years ago, would have admitted him to their table. The example is fit for proud mortality, to teach it, that God can raise from the dunghill a man to sit upon the throne, and can cast contempt upon princes, and level thrones with the dust. The numerous legions of Buonaparte are now with him on the borders of Russia, penetrating, probably, those inhospitable regions, where a sovereign boasts in the name of an autocrat, and the majority of his subjects are slaves. We have yet to learn the real cause of the war, and politicians are not without hopes, that here, at least, Bonaparte may be foiled and his army may be conquered, not by the sword, but by famine. The dispersion of such a body in Russia might eventually do good, and be the means of

bringing forward in civilization, this half-savage people.

In Spain events go on as usual. Continual fighting takes place between the Guerillas and the French, in which the former are represented as constantly victorious. On the trontiers the prowess of the English has been shewn by taking the head of a bridge, fortified in the strongest manner, with little loss to themsel es, but great loss to the enemy. By this an opening is made for our troops into Spain, and if depend.nce could be placed on the Spaniards, the Gallic king might at last trer ble for his capital. But the great armies of France still remain capable of supporting each other, and there are no appearances of a speedy end to the conflict. A measure is said to have been taken of filling up the vacancies in our army by adding a certain number of Spaniards to each regim nt, who, being under British officer, will soon become form.dable in the field.

The best news of the United States arises from home, and, notwithstanding the lowering sun in the West, we still hope that no war will take place. In the South of America, the inh bitants of the North and South of La Plata cannot reconcile their differences but the assistance of the Brazilians does not give a superiority to the former The govern ent of Buenos Ayres is every day gaining consistency. The Brazils have lost a minister, who, though he was an European, had enlarged views, and saw that there was, on the Western continent, a great field for exertion, and that the house of Braganza, under the influence of good counc is, would have no reason to regret its departure from the miseries of the mother country.