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COLLEGE AT LA TOUR.

SIR,-Will you permit me to beg attention, through your Journal, to the new protestant "College of the Holy Trinity," at La Tour, in Piedmont, for the education of such of the Waldenses as are intended for the ministry, in their own country. Hitherto they have been sent to Switzerland for instruction; but this establishment, endowed by funds raised in England, and sanctioned by the royal licence of the King of Sardinia, will now enable them to receive an adequate training within their native valleys at less expense, and with less risk to their religious principles.

The object of this notice is to solicit contributions in books for the college. Some very handsome presents in this way have already been made; and Messrs. Rivingtons have kindly consented to receive any books which may be sent to them for the same destination. Classical and scientific works for the use of the students; and theological works, especially the standard productions of English divines, which are read with great avidity by many of the Waldenses who understand English, would be considered a valuable addition to the library. The expurgatorial office is rigidly performed in every part of Italy; therefore no books would be allowed to reach them which are likely to offend the censors of the press.

I remain, Sir, your most obedient servant, W. S. G.

FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS.

MR. EDITOR.-I hardly ever read a paper, either in your Magazine or in any work professedly written on the subject of the state of the earth, and the inhabitants, immediately after the creation, and after the fall of man, that does not put the case in a most unchristian-like point of view. In the first place, we are expressly told that a thousand years are, with the great Creator, as one day, and one day as a thousand years. Now, the Mosaic account limits the work of creation, clearly and determinately, to six natural days, or, according to the Jewish mode of reckoning time, "to the evening and morning." Now, that in those few hours the operations of a thousand years of the common proceedings of nature should take place, in the very beginning of all things, I see nothing whatever to be astonished at; on the contrary, most firmly believe it. I do not believe that a couple of roots of each kind of grass, or a couple of trees of each kind, or a couple of flowers, or a couple of whales, or a couple of oysters, or a couple of lions, or a couple of pigeons only were at first created, merely because we read that a couple of the human race only were then created. But I believe that earth, water, and air were immediately everywhere teeming with life in the greatest numbers, and in the very highest degree of beauty and animation; that everything was put in complete order to receive man, and that all were created in the time that Moses tells us. I never have seen anything stated to stagger

this account, by any one, even for a moment; I never have met with any writer who departed from the Mosaic account who did not appear to me to surrender everything in support of some system, at the expense of Christianity and the Bible.

At the present day do we find elephants, rhinoceroses, camels, lamas, kangaroos, tigers, crocodiles, lizards, palms, roses, and heaths universally dispersed through all parts of the earth alike? Or whales, flying-fish, sharks, and dolphins in every sea? Or peacocks, pelicans, and storks in every wood or lake? If, then, a catastrophe like the deluge should take place in the earth or seas inhabited by these creatures, should we be arguing right in saying that they existed before the other parts of the world received their present inhabitants? Yet, we do all this in our popular works on geology; and talk about Ichthyosaurus, Plesiosaurus, &c., &c., as proofs of ages intervening when these lived, and man and other animals did not; consequently, that Moses tells us what is not true, and the Bible is not to be believed. Forgetting that we know nothing of the inhabitants of the bottom of the deepest seas, or what the enormous rivers of South America may contain; nor even on the land, do we know what the centre of Africa, the interior of Asia, South or North America, conceal. I entertain no doubt but that the surface of the earth which man now inhabits, was, before the flood, for the most part, the bottom of the former seas; and that when the fountains of the great deep were broken up, at that period, small fragments of the deepest parts of the bottom of those seas were ruptured, torn up, and cast on our present surface; and accordingly, that we find a fragment of a quarter, half, or perhaps one mile square of this crust here and there-as at Lime, Folkestone, Sussex, &c.-filled with the remains of animals, now, as far as we know, living in the very deepest waters. And that from hence have been hastily derived those systems which ought only to amaze, and never can be, or ought for one moment to be, believed. Let God be true, though every man be mistaken.

Again, that there was a new formation of animal habits and mode of life after the fall of man, I do not for one half-moment believe, nor will I listen to it. It is too absurd an idea for a child, in my opinion, to entertain, and is not required even by their own system. Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? And He has expressly told us, that one shall not sin and another bear the punishment. That insects, birds, fish, and beasts of prey lived before the fall as they do now, there can be no doubt; or the very face of nature would very soon have been deformed and rendered uninhabitable, even by many of the animals, as well as man. What could have withstood the ravages of the insect tribe, and the locusts, or even of the sheep, goats, and deer? And fishes must soon have exhausted the very seas, and swept them bare of every marine plant, if they had all been created, like men, to be immortal; and had also gone on fulfilling the divine command to increase and multiply. We are told, as clearly as words can convey meaning, "that only by sin, death entered into the world, and past upon every man." Now, none of the animal race,

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except the serpent, had offended at the fall; nor is there any mention made of any curse being pronounced against any of them, the serpent only excepted; consequently, they remained as they were. attentively the fifth chapter of the epistle to the Romans, where the entrance of death into the world is mentioned, and there is not the remotest reference made to any creature, but man; neither is there in Genesis, the serpent only excepted. The ephemera was not immortal before the fall, I must think, but was as liable to be eaten by a trout, or snapped up by a swallow, as at the present day! That the earth should bring forth briars and thorns, only proves that the Judge of all must do right: for here was employment provided for man, and no idle man was ever either good or happy. In the midst of judgment, therefore, God remembered mercy. So far from believing that the lion eat grass like the ox, or an eagle lived upon mushrooms, I believe the very reverse; and I believe that animals of prey bore a just proportion then to other animals, and ever have preserved it. That these all destroyed other animals after the fall, we have abundant proof in the gigantic remains of these creatures every day brought to our notice. And may they not have been in proportion to the other animals in size? We discover enormous elks and deer, and vegetables of immense size; and perhaps all the productions of the earth and waters before the flood may have been much larger than after it, even man himself; for a slight alteration in the atmosphere would by degrees bring down all creation to a just proportion. Be this however as it may, I still believe that animals of prey lived before the fall, as they live now.

I cannot doubt but that the whole face of the earth was clothed, completely clothed, with woods, grass, herbs, flowers, and fruits, in every part, on the third day of creation. And that fruit, flowers, ripe grain, and seeds were ready in abundance for the millions of new creatures that were to be supported by them. Nor have I any doubt but that the first pikes or sharks instantly dashed amid the myriads of fish playing around them, or that the cats, owls, and weasels tried their prowess on the multitudes of mice and rats; or the hawks, buzzards, and kites picked up many a little bird before they were a day old; or that eagles, vultures, lions, and tigers picked the bones of many a sheep, bull, stag, or hare; or that sea-gulls ate shrimps, or ducks worms, before they were many hours old. Now, there can be no less moral guilt in a duck's eating a worm, than in a lion's eating a stag. In my opinion, the contrary of this is stupid nonsense. Moreover I firmly believe that nothing was made in vain, and that the first woodpeckers instantly found trees filled with worms ready for their support; that no spider was starved for want of a fly, or any fly was at a loss where to blow its eggs in some dead body of a bird or insect; or that fungus could not grow for want of dead wood. We all know, or ought to know, that the death of one creature, whether vegetable or animal, is only the seed-bed or cradle of life to some others; that nothing is destroyed by dissolution; the particles still remain, and give life to something else, or take some other useful form. All the links

of this beautiful chain I firmly believe to have been perfect from the very first day of creation; and that the only change made was made in man, who torfeited his own life, with his eyes open, and knowing the consequence of his transgressing. D. E. H.

INTERCESSORY SUPPLICATIONS.

SIR,-Most of your readers are aware that it is a common practice with clergymen in the morning service on Sundays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, when "any desire the prayers of the congregation," to insert the clause ["especially those for whom our prayers are desired"] in one of the intercessory supplications of the Litany. Now I am disposed to think that this practice is not altogether correct on more than one account. The great majority (as I understand) of the copies of the Prayer Book do not retain the clause in the place referred to. The authority therefore for omitting it is so far greater than for using it. Again, in the Prayer for all conditions of men we are taught to intercede for "all who are afflicted or distressed in mind, body, or estate," especially for those who, in respect of any of these various sufferings, need our prayers; whereas, by the practice above referred to, the clause is limited to one class of distress only,-persons "afflicted in mind or in estate" being here excluded. I would further suggest that the rhythm of the prayer in the Litany is most distressingly injured by the introduction of the clause, and I will be bold to say that there does not occur in the whole Prayer Book (unless possibly in the office for the fifth of November,) any instance of a passage so entirely αῤῥυθμος.

The objection, of course, at once arises, that by the omission of the clause in the Litany the special intercession for sick persons by name must be omitted three mornings in every week, and particularly on Sunday mornings.

I answer, that the church does not authorize the minister to publish the names of persons who desire the prayers of the congregation, and that on various accounts it were better to forbear the practice,-that the Litany itself is a special intercession, or rather, series of special intercessions, having direct reference to every kind of "affliction or distress in mind, body, or estate," that if the directions of the church were complied with, the prayer "for all conditions of men" would be used every evening in the week and four mornings, and on all these occasions the clause would of course be introduced if necessary. Nor would there then be any need for the minister to be continually giving notice that any person or persons "desire the prayers of the congregation," much less to mention their names.

May I also suggest that, unless authority should be found to determine otherwise, there would be a greater propriety in introducing the clause in question into the prayer "for Christ's church militant" after the words" or any other adversity," than in inserting it into the Litany in the manner generally adopted.

VOL. IX.-April, 1836.

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If any of your very many correspondents possess any means of ascertaining what is strictly correct on this point, and would be pleased to communicate the result of their inquiry through the pages of the "British Magazine," they would confer a great favour possibly on other of your readers, and certainly on, Sir, your faithful and obedient servant, A COUNTRY CLERGYMAN.

IRISH SCRIPTURE LESSONS FOR SCHOOLS.

SIR,-Having examined some chapters of the "Scripture Lessons adapted for the Use of Schools, recommended by the Commissioners for the Education of the Poor in Ireland," and having compared the text of these lessons with the authorized version, the Douay version, and the original Hebrew, I propose to make a few remarks on the manner in which this little work has been executed. In the preface, it is stated that "the Board of Commissioners of Education earnestly and unanimously recommend these lessons to be used in all schools receiving aid from them." It is asserted in the preface, by the anonymous person who calls himself "the translator," that "these lessons are drawn from the sacred volume, and are almost entirely in the language of scripture, translated literally from the original. When passages are introduced, not in scripture language, (chiefly summaries of some portion of the narrative,) they are inclosed between brackets, and usually distinguished by being printed in a smaller type." Again, "The translation has been made by a comparison of the authorized and Douay versions with the original. The language sometimes of the one, and sometimes of the other, has been adopted, and occasionally deviations have been made from both. On this point the translator feels that he would require more indulgence than is likely to be granted to him, but he was compelled by the exigency of the case to undertake the task and he has done his best to execute it with fidelity, and he has been constantly under the eye of persons perfectly competent to correct any errors into which he might inadvertently fall."

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Nothing can have a greater appearance of fairness than this statement. We are prepared to expect that the preference will uniformly be given to the Douay, or the authorized version, according as either of them expresses most faithfully and literally the sense of the Hebrew original. And if, in some cases, neither of the two versions expresses the sense with sufficient fidelity, the translator has undertaken to give the reader a more faithful and literal version of the Hebrew original, and this, for additional security, he has done "under the eye of persons perfectly competent to correct any errors into which he might inadvertently fall." Now I understand by a faithful and literal version, one which, not only conveys the sense of the original text, but conveys it in the very words of the original, so far as the respective idioms of the two languages will admit of such translation. We shall soon see how he has executed a task of some difficulty and delicacy. But

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