preaching of Jonah, about the year B. C. 862. But having been reprieved under Sennacherib, they had become so intolerably advanced in wickedness, impurity, and blood, that "the LORD, who is slow to anger," sent his servant Nahum, B. C. 713, to pronounce "6 woe to the bloody city." God avenged the cruelties and iniquities of this city as he foretold; and it will be proper to transcribe some of the denunciations of the divine messengers: "The burthen of Nineveh. God is jealous, and the LORD revengeth; the LORD will take vengeance on his adversaries, he reserveth wrath for his enemies. For while they be folden together as thorns, and while they are drunken as drunkards, they shall be devoured as stubble fully dry. The gates of the rivers shall be opened, and the palace shall be dissolved. Take ye the spoil of silver, take the spoil of gold: for there is none end of the store and glory out of all their pleasant furniture. Behold, thy people in the midst of thee are women; the gates of thy land shall be set wide open unto thine enemies: the fire shall devour thy bars. There is no healing of thy bruise; thy wound is grievous all that hear the bruit of thee shall clap the hands over thee; for upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed continually?" Nahum i, 1, 2, 8, 10; ii, 6, 9; iii, 13—-19. "He will stretch out his hand against the north, and destroy Assyria; and will make Nineveh a desolation, and dry like a wilderness. And fiocks shall lie down in the midst of her, all the beasts of the nations: both the cormorant and the bittern shall lodge in the upper lintels of it: their voice shall sing in the windows; desolation shall be in the thresholds; for he shall uncover the cedar-work. This is the rejoicing city, that said in her heart, I am, and there is none beside me: how is she become a desolation, a place for beasts to lie down in. Every one that passeth by her shall hiзs, and wag his head." Zeph. ii, 13-15.

Zephaniah flourished but three years before his predictions and those of Nahum were in a great degree accomplished upon Nineveh; and we cannot refrain from urging our readers to peruse with attention the awful denunciations of the inspired prophet Nahum. Dr. Adam Clarke remarks, upon chapter iii, 2, 3, "The threatenings are continued in a strain of invective, astonishing for its richness, variety, and energy. One may hear and see the whip crack, the horses prancing, the wheels rumbling, the chariots bounding after the galloping steeds, the reflection of drawn and highlypolished swords, and the hurled spears like flashes of lightning dazzling the eyes, the slain lying in heaps, and horses and chariots stumbling over them."

A Greek historian, in describing the manner of the destruction of Nineveh, relates that there was an ancient prophecy received from their forefathers, that Nineveh should not be taken till the river first became an enemy to the city and in the third year of the siege, the Tigris being swollen with long-continued rains, overflowed the lower part of the city and broke down twenty furlongs of the wall, thus opening an entrance for the enemy. The king then thinking that the oracle was fulfilled, the river having manifestly become an enemy to the city, in his desperation, lest he should fall into the enemy's hands, heaped an immense funeral pyre in the palace; and having collected all his gold and silver, and royal vestments, together with his concubines and eunuchs, placed himself with them in a little apartment built in the midst of the pyre, and burnt them with himself and the palace together. When the death of the king was announced by certain deserters, the enemy entered at the breach the waters had made, and took the city.

Nineveh was thus taken and utterly ruined by

Assuerus, or Cyaxares, king of Media, and Nabuchodnosor, or Nabopolassar, king of Babylon, about B. C. 606. Diodorus Siculus, with others, ascribes the taking of it to Arbaces the Mede and Belesis the Babylonian; and says, that they dispersed the citizens in the villages, levelled the city with the ground, transferred the gold and silver, of which there were many talents, to Ecbatana, the motropolis of the Medes; and thus subverted the empire of the Assyrians. The materials of this mighty city were carried away to build Mosul and other places.

Lucian, a native of a city on the banks of the Euphrates, in that vicinity, testified that Nineveh had utterly perished, and that no vestige of it was remaining, neither could any one tell where it was situated. The Persians, subsequently to A. D. 230, built another city on or near the supposed site of ancient Nineveh; but this was destroyed by the Saracens A. D. 632. So completely have the predictions of Nahum been fulfilled, that the very site of Nineveh was long unknown to the moderns; but it has lately been visited by several intelligent travellers. They describe it as a vast extended waste, interspersed but here and there with heaps of rubbish. The principal mounds, which are few in number, are in many places overgrown with grass, and resemble the mounds left by the intrenchments and fortifications of ancient Roman camps. The appearance of other mounds and ruins less marked, extend for ten miles, and seem to be the wreck of former buildings. There is not one monument of royalty, nor one token of splendour: the places are not known where they stood. There are not even bricks, stones, or other materials of buildings, discernible in the largest mounds. The place is, as foreshown by the inspired prophet, a desolation—an utter ruin-empty, void, and waste! The very ruins have perished; and it is reduced to even less than the wreck of its former grandeur. It shows not the least sign of the greatness of its kings, nobles, or merchants: but even the absence of those, amid the heaps of their rubbish, proclaim most powerfully the vengeance of the Almighty against the wicked, and the infallible truth of the word of God!

BIBLE ANECDOTES.

MR. BAKER, the Missionary Printer, at Madagascar, in a letter to the Committee of the Bible Society, having particularized the extensive circulation of the Scriptures in that islaud, observes, "Many facts might be named, illustrating the sincere affection of the natives to the word of God. I will specify two:

"I went one day into an ostler's house, who was a poor man, and dwelt in a house very much inferior to his master's horse stables. I found neither chair nor table, nor any other furniture or property, except the earthen-pot for cooking rice, and the native plates. But I observed a strong wooden box, with a lock; and on inquiring what was in it, the ostler opened it, and showed me his Testament; thus preserved to keep it from the rats, and from being stolen by any unprincipled scholar and this I afterwards found to be a very common case. The natives value it as their highest treasure."

"When the natives went to the wars, to the distance of perhaps 500 miles, in 1830, and subsequently, not less than fifty "Believers," as they were scornfully termed, carried their Testaments; and, by means of them, were enabled to keep up prayer and other meetings, by which many were brought to a knowledge of the truth; and many hundreds (perhaps thousands) were brought to a general knowledge of Christianity."

and gloomy darkness, yet would each stain on your character be as plain in the sight of God, as if written in letters of fire on the clear azure of the firmament. Who then is bold enough to risk the dreadful consequences of incurring the displeasure of so terrible a Being? Especially when there is every reason to induce men to gain his favour, which is granted to all who seek it through the Saviour's blood.

In short, nothing can reconcile us to the presence of God but holiness. When the love of Him is shed abroad in our hearts, the consideration that He is near us will be most delightful: and thus we shall pass through this transitory life under the persuasion, that He who is now watching our steps in the midst of temptation, will, when we see him as he is, lead our triumphant songs in those blissful mansions, where all sorrow shall cease, and all wants be satisfied.

INFANT SCHOOLS IN AFRICA.

B. Z.

THERE is no community upon earth in which the Infant-school system is not of the highest importance; but, in our attempts to raise savage and barbarous tribes, it is a discovery of inconceivable value. When properly managed, it has in it a power which will raise up the first generation brought up under its influence above the third or fourth generation of those educated under different systems. At the Infant-schools, the children of the barbarous tribes start with the advantages of those of civilized men; and, instead of being retarded in their progress by the ignorance and imbecility of a people only rising above the savage state, they rise up to cultivate and humanize their parents, and become the elements of a society that will soon be able to supply their own wants, advocate their own rights, and diffuse the blessings of civilization among the tribes in the interior of Africa; and I have reason to believe that our labours may be attended with surprising success. Some of the great difficulties of introducing education among barbarous nations are, the indifference of the parents to instruction, and the aversion of the children to its restraints. By the Infant-school system these difficulties are completely removed. There is something in it so novel, so striking, and so amusing to a barbarous people, and so interesting to their children, that, generally speaking, in establishing such schools among them, we should find no difficulty in securing the approbation of the one, and the attendance of the other. On my late journey over Caffreland, I had several opportunities of having my mind confirmed in this opinion. Resting one day, while our oxen were feeding, I remarked a number of children around our waggon, humming a tune, to which they were beating time. Their appearance instantly suggested to me the idea of an Infant-school. I communicated my idea to Mr. Read, who had acquired some knowledge of the system. We instantly arranged them, to the number of perhaps fifty, to make the experiment. In the midst of Caffreland, among some of the most beautiful scenery in the world, I observed the readiness and enthusiasm with which the children entered into the spirit of the system, and heard them pronounce the English words which they had never before heard, with all the propriety that might have been expected in an English school, and saw the eagerness with which the parents partook of the delight of their children. I could scarcely believe my own eyes and ears; and could not help reflecting, what a mighty influence these schools might have in raising that interesting people, had we only the necessary agents and apparatus. Rev. Dr. Philip.

Letters to a Mother, upon Education.

LETTER XXI.

On Intellectual Education during the first Seven Years, and on learning to read.

Dear Madam,

In one or two preceding Letters, I have pointed out what I think ought to be the nature of education during the first seven years.

Those observations are comprehended under the promotion of the two things which seemed so desirable to the ancients; namely, "a sound mind in a sound body."

It appears to me that no book, nor even a letter, ought to be seen by your child before his seventh birthday; but that from the dawn of life to that period, continued attention should be paid to the object of expanding and strengthening the intellectual faculties, cultivating the moral affections, and in establishing and in securing vigour of body.

The intellectual culture alluded to, ought to be conducted by exercising his attention, understanding, memory, &c.; by questioning him as to the names of the properties of external objects, in order that a habit may be established of an accurate perception of the impressions made upon his senses.

In a former letter I adverted to the fact, that all the ideas, even those which are the most abstract, which your child will ever possess, are derived from mental operations upon the impressions he receives through the senses. If therefore you thoroughly teach him the use of these in reference to the external world, if you teach him the names of all the qualities of things around him; above all, if you establish the habit of his perceiving them minutely and accurately; you will have furnished him, by the time he is seven years old, with an ample stock of sensations, and knowledge of their names, upon which an abstract education may afterwards be most beneficially conducted.

Yet I can readily anticipate that some parents might object, that this advice is a great deviation from the general custom; and further, that it is impossible, under the usual circumstances of society, to defer the knowledge of letters so long. In the first place, the general custom of society may be in certain instances ineligible. The recommendation of any rule, is not its prior establishment, but its own inherent utility. In the next place, supposing, which I have done throughout, that you are the one only preceptress of your child during the first few years of his life, you can certainly determine what objects shall or shall not be presented to your child. But even were compliance with this advice so difficult, it would still be the duty of the adviser to propose the best regulations, and which ought to be adopted as nearly as possible. In a former Letter I gave the high authority of the master of ancient philosophy, the tutor of Alexander the Great, for my advice; but that which will perhaps equally recommend it, is another fact, that several persons, and some of them instructresses of youth, have frequently told me, that they have found, that when learning to read was wholly delayed till six or seven years of age, the child not only learnt more quickly, but even read much better than those children who began earlier.

The other object of attention, namely, the cultivation of the moral instincts, and of health, will, I have no doubt, be accomplished more readily and more perfectly in union with this advice relative to the intellect; whereas, with the usual union of all three, I believe one or other of them must suffer; and perhaps to this fact may be owing much of the imperfection of mental

or moral or intellectual character observable in society. Intellectual attainments can most readily be grafted upon a previous solid and ample foundation formed of the preceding materials.

As soon after the seventh birth-day as may be convenient, let your child, whom 1 delight to picture to myself as healthy, well acquainted with the names and qualities of external objects, be taught to read in the following manner.

So arrange your avocations as that you may have a whole day to yourselves. Select for the purpose an alphabet, consisting of Roman letters of a moderate size, not on counters, for these, being liable to a change of position, may confuse him; but in a regular book, such as he will hereafter be used to. Teach him first the capital letters, and you will find that he will learn them all in one lesson of about six hours. The next day teach him the little letters in the same mode. In a low, calm tone of voice, name slowly each letter: pause at every one: let him mark its form: point to it with a pencil or quill. The slower and the more deliberately you teach him, the quicker he will learn. The more times you go over the alphabet, the sooner you will tire him, blunt his perceptions, disgust him, and retard the acquisition.

But now I cannot avoid recommending to you a system of teaching the alphabet, which has recently become adopted in some few instances, which differs somewhat from the one usually adopted.

The cause of the alteration is this: that each of the consonants in the alphabet, and even in some degree the vowels also, are different as they are separately pronounced from the use which is made of them when conjoined with the vowels into a word. Suppose we take the word horn. Imagine what must be the difficulty upon the mind of your child, when he subsequently joins the letters together into the word, to find himself taught to say, haitch, o, arr, en. The difficulty is this, that instead of having to pronounce them more quickly, in order to form the word, in the following manner, aitchoarren, he has further to learn to use only the initial sound of each of these letters, rejecting the intermediate letters, and to conjoin these into the word. Thus, the aspirate which is the initial sound of the haitch is all that is wanted, the o is simple, the rough sound is all he wants with the arr, and the partly dental and partly nasal sound of the en. Hence the desideratum is, so to teach the alphabet as to teach simply the sounds. I will venture to give a specimen of the alphabet, which should thus be taught. Let the

A, be pronounced nearly as usual, only shorter, as in bad.

B, not as if spelt bee, but let the sound of the B only be taught, which will somewhat resemble the word ubb, suppressing the u as much as possible.

C, as a mere hiss.

D, as if written udd, suppressing the u as much as possible.

E, short as possible.

F, the mere effing sound which we make when about to pronounce the word flute.

G, as if written ug (g soft), suppressing the u as much as possible.

H, as a mere rough breathing.

I, as usual, only short as possible.

K, as if written ukk, suppressing the sound of the u as much as possible.

L, as if written ull, suppressing the sound as much as possible.

M, as if written em, only suppress the e as much as possible.

N, so as to this letter.

O, as usual, only short.

P, as if written up, only suppressing the u as much as possible.

Q, as if written uk, only suppressing u as much as possible.

R, a mere rumble with the end of the tongue.
S, a mere hiss.

T, as if written ut, suppressing the u, so as to give only, if I may so speak, the t sound.

U, nearly as usual, only very short.
V, as if written uv, and pronounced as one word,
suppressing the u as much as possible.
W, as if written oo.

X, as if written ecs, only suppressing the sound of the e as much as possible.

Y, as if written ie, as one word, and as shortly as possible.

Z, simply as a hiss, in which the d is equally prominent with the s.

Now then imagine your child having been taught in this mode to spell the word horn. Thus, a mere aspirate or breathing, o, a mere rumble, and the en, avoiding the vowel as much as possible. He will then not have to get rid in his memory of the useless lumber appended to the breathing as aitch, and to the letters r and n, but will join the sounds together, and then pronounce the word. The labour, the difficulty, will be less and shorter. This system has been tried with much success. It will be evident upon inspection, that the letters of the alphabet, as they are usually pronounced, derive that pronunciation from the spelling of them, which learned men have agreed to assign to each of them as representing the power of the letters.

This spelling has proceeded upon the supposition, that you cannot sound a consonant without a vowel, which is true, but certainly you may so shorten the vowel as to give almost the mere sound of the consonant, and the sound is all that is wanted. Sounds joined together make words; but the old system of words joined together making words, increases the labour of learning to read, with no imaginable advantage. — I am, dear Madam, yours, &c.

CLERICUS.

THE SCORNER SILENCED. SOME time ago, a minister of the gospel went to preach at a place called Harmony, in the western settlements of the United States; when a physician, a professed infidel, called on his associates to accompany him while he attacked the Methodists. They went; and he commenced the sport by asking the minister, "Do you follow preaching to save souls?" Yes," was the reply. He then pursued his interrogatories. "Did you ever see a soul?” “No.” “Did you ever hear a soul?” "No." "Did you ever taste a soul?" "No." "Did you ever smell a soul?" "No." "Did you ever feel a soul?" "Yes, thank God," replied the minister. "Well," rejoined the physician, in a tone of triumph, "there are four of the five senses against one, that there is no soul." The minister immediately retorted, by asking his antagonist, "Are you a doctor of medicine?" Yes," answered the infidel. "Then you profess to ease pain. Did you ever see a pain ?" "No." "Did you ever hear a pain? "No." "Did you ever taste a pain?" "No." "Did you ever smell a pain ?" "No." "Did you ever feel a pain?" "Then," said the minister, "there are also four senses against one to prove that there is no pain: and yet, Sir, you know that there is pain, and I know that there is a soul." The doctor appeared confounded, and walked off.—“Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit."

Yes."

SCRIPTURE GAZETTEER.

(Continued from p. 70.)

ALEXANDRIA, a celebrated city in Egypt, built by Alexander the Great. It was once the most flourishing city in the whole world. The happy situation of it between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, and upon the river Nile, drew hither the commerce of the East and West, and it soon became the capital of Egypt, and the regal seat of the Ptolemies, whilst Egypt maintained the state of a kingdom. It was adorned with many stately buildings, of which the most memorable was the temple of Serapis; and for sumptuous workmanship and magnificence of the fabric, inferior to none but the Roman capitol. Here was also a noble library, erected by Ptolemy Philadelphus, who had stored it with near 700,000 volumes. These were unfortunately consumed in the wars of Julius Cæsar and Pompey. There are many remains even now of its ancient grandeur. Dr. Shaw observes, that "considering the great devastations which have attended the Saracen conquests in other parts, it is somewhat extraordinary, that the greatest part of its ancient walls, together with their respective turrets, have continued entire down to this time. In the same condition, likewise, are the cisterns, which the overflowing of the Nile annually supplied with water. These were of a great depth, having their walls round, supported by several stages of arches, upon which, likewise, the greatest part of the city itself was erected.

The grandeur and sumptuousness of the ancient Alexandria, may be further estimated from two rows of beautiful granite pillars (several whereof were standing in 1721), which may be supposed to have constituted the street that is described by Strabo, and reaching from the Areopolitic part of the city to the gates of Canopus." Alexandria is called at present Scanderia, and is a place of some trade, and has two ports; the new one, where the vessels of Europe resort to; and the old one, where those from Turkey are admitted.

ANTIOCH (the speed of a chariot), the capital of Syria, built by Seleucus Nicanor, and called Antioch in honour of his father Antiochus. The city of Antioch was in form almost square; it had a great number of gates, and part of it upon the north side was raised upon a high mountain. It was adorned with galleries and fine fountains, and was celebrated throughout the world for the elegance of its buildings, the learning and politeness of its inhabitants, the fertility of its soil, and the richness of its trade. The Emperor Vespasian, Titus, and others, granted very great privileges to it. It was ordinarily the residence of the Prefect or Governor of the eastern provinces, and casually honoured with the residence of several of the Roman Emperors, especially of Verus and Valens, who spent here the greater part of their time; and in such reputation has this city been had in the earlier times of Christianity, that its bishop has been honoured with the title of Patriarch. But, like all human things, it has since undergone various revolutions, having been almost totally demolished by two successive earthquakes, one whereof happened in the fourth, the other in the fifth century. In 548 it was taken and burnt by the Persians, and all the inhabitants massacred. Four years after this, Justinian rebuilt it in a more beautiful and regular manner than it was before. The Persians however took it a second time, in 574, and destroyed its walls. In 588 it suffered again by an earthquake, whereby upwards of 60,000 persons perished. It was once more rebuilt, but taken by the Saracens in 637. Nicephorus Phocas retook it in 966, but afterwards it was taken by the Saracens. The Christians at last in the Crusade

took it in 1098, but it was taken and demolished by the Saraceus in 1268; and nothing now remains of this once celebrated and superb city (which will be ever memorable for being the place where the disciples of Jesus were first called Christians, as well as for being the birth-place of the Evangelist St. Luke), but a heap of ruins and desolation. Its situation was (according to Dr. Wells) on both sides of the river Orontes, about twelve miles distant from the Mediterranean Sea. There is likewise ancient Antioch, mentioned in Acts xiii, 14, situated in Pisidia, a small province or country lying north of Pamphylia.

ANTIPATRIS (for the father), a town of Palestine, anciently called Caphar-Saba, but named Antipatris by Herod the Great, in honour of his father Antipater. It was situated in a pleasant valley, near the mountains, in the way from Jerusalem to Cæsarea. Josephus places it about the distance of seventeen miles from Joppa. Acts xxiii, 22—35.

ABOLITION OF NEGRO WEST INDIA SLAVERY. RIGHTEOUSNESS, Reason, and Religion are prevailing, and the cause of the oppressed Negro has been adopted seriously and determinately by his Majesty's government. The following is taken from the Patriot Newspaper-"The intended plan of Ministers is rumoured to be, 1. The immediate abolition of slavery in the colonies. 2. The compensation to the slave-owner, at a fixed rate per head, for every slave. 3. The raising of a loan for such compensation, to be paid off in thirty years. 4. The inanumitted slave to be compelled by the magistrates to work five days out of the seven, except when in crop, when they would work for six days. 5. Two days' amount of wages to be deducted, and paid into the compensation fund, it being considered the remaining three or four days, as the case may be, as to in crop or not, would be sufficient for the support of the slave."

We cannot doubt but perfect liberty will be secured to the slave to attend the ministry of the Missionaries, and that those self-denying servants of Jesus Christ will enjoy full protection and security in the prosecution of their glorious work of evangelizing the Negroes.

ENMITY TO THE GOSPEL IN THE WEST INDIA PLANTERS,

ONE of the Wesleyan Missionaries, writes under the date of Dec. 15 last, More effectually to neutralize the good effects of Missionary teaching among the Negroes, the most strenuous efforts are made by the planters and others, to revive the heathenish sports and amusements formerly so prevalent among them, now happily almost obsolete, and great preparations are making in many of the parishes to restore them in all their force at the approaching Christmas."

The Missionaries at present mourn, while their enemies rejoice over their impious successes. Lately the inember of the parish of St. Ann rose in the House of Assembly and said, "He was happy to inform the House, that a great improvement had taken place in the morals and manners of the Negroes in the parish he had the honour to represent, since the sectarians had been expelled therefrom. Before, they were always melancholy, and nothing but singing, and prayer, and religion, would do for them; but now, he was happy to say, they were returning to their old plays, dances, and other amusements, and were picking up all their old songs." Irreligious men know not the things of God, and therefore laugh at that which is the chief dignity

of man.