Ere we trust our lips with the next request, let us pause try our hearts, for dreadful is the condemnation in which it involves the unforgiving. Let us weigh it, that we may bless the royal law that knits mankind in mutual charity, that giveth light to the simple, like the Sun of the moral System, bringing forth, fostering, and perfecting all that is good. We next pray that God, who has placed us in this state of probation, would not suffer us to be led into temptation which we do not overcome. Fore-armed then, as well as forewarned, should we be against the thousand varying snares that, from every sense and every passion,continually beset our path. Greater than he that is against us, and abundantly able to "deliver from" the power of our adversary the "Evil" one, is "He that is with us." To Him, therefore, in conclusion, we justly as cribe, as "the honour due unto his name," "the kingdom, the power, and the glory, for ever und ever;" repeating emphatically, as it were, and reinforcing the heartiness of our wishes and the sincerity of our faith, through out every petition, by the final Amen. N answer to C. L. (Vol. LXXXIX. mode of producing germination in exotic seeds," and feeling a strong desire to know the result of chemical experiments, as connected with Botany, I beg to refer your numerous readers to the following quotation from "Principles of Botany and of Vegetable Physiology," by Professor Willdenow, "Edin. 1811." "It has long been known that every plant affects its own particular soil, and that on this account seeds do not germinate in all kinds of soil; at least they soon decay in a disadvantageous one. Various trials have been made to make seeds germinate in various matters, different from the usual earths. Sukkow made plants grow in pounded fluar of lime and barytes. Bonnet made plants grow in saw dust, slips of paper, cotton, and even an old book. That cress (lepidium sativum) geṛ. minates upon a piece of woollen cloth, is a well-known fact. M. Humboldt's experiments to make seeds germinate in metallic oxyds, especially the red oxyd of lead, red massicot, &c. are more instruct In ive, In powder of coal and sulphur, seeds germinated likewise very well. He found that oxygen proved an extreme stimulus to plants, and that without it they never can be brought to germinate. On this account germination went on quickly in meoil, on the contrary, carbon, hydrogen, tallic oxyds, especially in minium. in the filings of lead, iron and copper, as well as in powdered molybdene and in alkalis, no one seed germinated. It soon occurred to him, that with oxygen as a stimulant, he might forcibly make seeds germinate faster; and he actually found, that at the temperature of 20° Reaum. all seeds vegetated most rapidly when steeped in oxymuriatic acid. One instance alone will suffice. The seeds of Lepidium sativum germinated after six or seven hours, when put into oxymuriatic acid; whereas, when lying in common water, they required from 36 to 38 hours. In a letter, dated Feb. 1801, he writes to me, that in Vienna they derived much benefit from the discovery of this fact, and that seeds, 20 or 30 years old, brought from the Bahama Islands, Madagascar, &c. which constantly refused to germinate, very readily in this way vegetated and produced plants which grew up very successthe oxymuriatic acid, Mr. Humboldt profully. As every gardener cannot obtain poses a very easy method to procure it without difficulty. He took a cubic inch of water, a tea-spoonful of common muriatic acid, two tea-spoonfuls of oxyd of manganese; mixed it, and placed the seeds in them. The whole was now allowed to digest with a heat of 18-30 cellently; but it is necessary to take the seeds out as soon as the corkle appears. That the seeds are not injured by the acid, is proved by the many plants which have been treated in this way, under the inspection of Mr. Jacquin, and in which vegetation went on extremely well. "It is the oxygen of the atmosphere which stimulates the seeds to germination; and this explains at once the experiment of Mr. Achard, why plants vegetate faster in very compressed air, than in air in its common state. "Besides oxygen, ammonia favours the germination of seeds: hence, they germidung, which, therefore, serves as manure. nate almost immediately, when placed in Cow-dung, we know, consists of muriatic acid and ammonia. In fluids which conThus, they never germinate in oil, which tain no oxygen, seeds will not germinate. consists of hydrogen and carbon.” The preceding observations inay induce some of your correspondents to exercise their patience and ability towards effecting the germination of foreign seeds, in which case, should succes May come and go, so unapprov❜d, and "No spot or blame behind." [leave Paradise Lost, Book V. Lines Admitting the maxim, so far as relates to man, (for as far as it relates to the sovereign mind, it is not strictly correct, and appears somewhat derogatory from the idea of the divine perfection); admitting it, then, with this limitation, some allowance may be made for the assertion. Yet is there probably no part in the whole system of practical and moral duty of higher importance than the proper regulation of the thoughts. In this, perhaps we may truly say, consists a main branch of self-government. Thoughts may indeed be generally considered as the master-springs of human action. No one who has paid due attention to the operation of the mental faculties, can fail to have observed the tendency of the buman mind to expatiate on the wings of imagination, in a manner independent on external circumstances. Many a thought, which, at its first rise, wears the appearance of a slight suggestion, depends for its confirmation on the reception it meets with at the moment of its origin. The question may be fairly said to turn on the single point of assent or dissent, of indulgence or dismissal, whether it shall assume the more decided character of a principle of conduct, and thereby produce that course of action, towards which it is calculated to excite our inclination. Here it is to be lamented, that the influential tendency of every such mental suggestion, if it be of an evil nature, is often not a little strengthened by its assailing us in some point already weakened by our predominant disposition, confirmed as that often is by the force of habitual indulgence. Thus, the voluptuary is led (without guarding what may be justly consi dered as the first avenue to action) to entertain the contemplation of some licentious and orbidden pleasure; the ambitious man to engage in some scheme for the attainment of worldly greatness; the avaricious one in some plan of exorbitant gain; the envious in some unlawful endeavour to supplant his imagined rival; the malicious and revengeful, in some pur. pose of hostility to the subject of his displeasure. Shakspeare, that exquisite master of the science of human nature, in the able delineation he has afforded us of the workings of guilty ambition, bas greatly heightened the effect of his noblest drama, by exhibiting in the character of Banquo the feelings of a well-principled mind: while Macbeth, the guilty hero of his piece, according to the confession put into his mouth by the poet, yield's "to that suggestion, "Whose horrid image should unfix his hair, "And make his seated heart knock at his "Against the use of nature." [ribs While Lady Macbeth, too, is represented as invoking "all the murderous Ministers that wait on Nature's mischief, to unsex her, and fill her from the crown to the toe, top full of direst cruelty, &c. to enable her to execute her lawless scheme of violence, how forcible is the impression made on the mind of the reader or spectator, in favour of the amiable character above referred to, who is exbibited to us, as resolved" to lose" no honour in seeking to augment it, but still to "keep his" bosom fran chis'd, and allegiance clear! And how highly is the portrait finished, by our Author's exhibition of him, when about to retire to rest, as offering up the pious ejaculation, "Merciful Powers! "Restrain in me the cursed thoughts, which "Gives way to in repose.' [Nature Thus, we find him not trusting in his own strength, but seeking help from above, to assist him in the government of his mind. On the same principle that, as Christians, we are taught to deprecate evil suggestions, we should make it the object of our supplication to the great Father of Spirits, from whom cometh every good and perfect gift, that he may inspire us with the contrary dis positions, and make us ready to every good work. In that excellent devotional composition, well known by the name of the Evening Hymn (see Spectator, vol. viii.), we find both these sentiments admirably expressed, in the petition, When in the night I sleepless lie, wish to require the truest freedom of action, should learn to govern his thoughts, for which purpose nothing appears better suited than, in the first place, to become as far as possible acquainted with his own prevailing disposition of mind; perhaps no better plan can be suggested for the adoption of any person whose situation and circumstances afford him opportunity to put it in practice, than that of frequently committing them to paper, in seasons of retirement and leisure, and, after proper intervals, reading them. Those which, on an attentive reperusal, conducted with a due referrence to the sound principles of Datural and revealed religion, he finds no reason to reject or disavow, let bim retain and cherish, erasing any which he then perceives will not stand the full test of such further scrutiny. Let him in the repeated exercise of this species of examination, be careful not to spare what he has thus set down, out of any regard to its having been originally his own. This occasional exercise of those nobler powers of his nature, reason and conscience, will then have a growing tendency to promote every good inclination, to pre-occupy the mind with pure and upright principles, to correct any habits or propensities which stand opposed to virtuous practice, to remove the obnoxious shades of self-love, to subdue the swellings of pride, to silence the suggestions of envy, to resist the baneful influence of vanity, and dispel the luring visions of ambition. The clouds excited by prejudice and passion will gradually vanish before the pure light of just reflection; and trath, like the morning sun, beaming with genuine lustre on his soul, will direct him to the habitual "choice of that which is good, and to the refusal of that which is evil." So may he learn to keep his heart with all diligence," remembering that "out of it are the issues of life." So may he Mr. URBAN, Missions from this country well Feb. 4. HE great of religious deserves attention by every friend to the universal spread of the Gospel. They are conducted by persons well selected for this important purpose, by the ancient Societies for propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts,— for promoting Christian Knowledge; by the Church Missionary Society, by the Wesleyan Methodists, by the United Brethren, by the Moravians, by the Baptists, by the Calvinists, and by the Independents; these all rank under the denomination of Protestand also of Dissenters: but the union ants, both of the Church of England The Church of Rome also sends forth in this cause is proved by their effects. her servants for the same ends of conversion, although they take perhaps a different mode to produce it. I believe there is no part of the civilized globe where the Missionaries are not well received, except in the Turkish dominions. to these measures by the sanction and The accession aid of the Emperor of all the Russias, has carried the communications of glad tidings to the deserts of Siberia. The secluded empire of China and Tartary has at length been induced to permit the printing and circulation of the Scriptures and of religious Tracts into their interior country, where, within 15 years since, the Chinese printers and teachers were punished with wearing the great cangue and banishment for life. The establishment of an English Bishop at and given personal encouragement to Calcutta has greatly served this cause, the efforts of the officers of the British and Company's army, who have accompanied all their conquests with religious instruction;-the prejudice of Caste has been broken,-infanticide has been almost abolished,—human sacrifice has been annulled,—and the idol destructions of the Joghurnaut, and the voluntary deaths of the followers of a chieftain, have been re called; called; and in some places, the strongest efforts have been applied to abolish the self-sacrifice of a surviving wife on the funeral pile of her deceased husband! In Asia, in Africa, and in America,—in the islands of the great Atlantic, idolatry has been attacked by these Messengers of Peace, who have succeeded in casting down her altars stained with the blood of her victims, and raising upon their ruins the pure devotion of Jesus of Nazareth. Wherever we turn our eyes over these records of truth, a divine though unseen band has conducted and protected its servants, and led them to persevere through the sharpest personal difficulties, through fatigue, through danger, through want of supplies and accommodation, through opposition and insult on the one hand, and persecution on the other, until they have established the true faith throughout the remotest regions, and under the most barren and unfruitful auspices! and where human efforts alone must have been abortive! I am persuaded that these hints are sufficient to induce your Readers to turn to some of the papers to which I have alluded, where they will rejoice in the active measures for the spread of the word of truth. As these measures are intimately connected with the established and tolerated Religion of the united king dom, a plan has been suggested for forming a general meeting upon the subject, on some particular day in the year, to implore the Divine aid and sanction to these efforts. To these laudable efforts it must be remarked that the greater part, if not all, of the Societies above mentioned, either on their own account, or in connection with the British and Foreign Bible Society, have distributed immense numbers of copies in 126 different languages and dialects, of the Holy Scriptures. So that where ever the Missionary has journeyed, the Sacred Word is his leading companion, and which has given him a support among both Jews and Gentiles in all parts of the world;-they have thus together civilized the savage, and subdued the morose and selfish,modulated the brutish, and taught the ignorant; they have ameliorated the social-adorned the polished, and shown the way of Truth to the philosopher as well as the peasant: the consolations of the Gospel of Peace have planted hope in the despairing heart,—have shut the door against the murmurs of Infi. delity, and have given the soothing balm of resignation to adversity! It has become "the seat of Light and Peace, and Christian Union." Surely we may hope, with bumble confidence, that the hand of Divine Providence is with us in these united endeavours to extend the blessings of peace to all parts of the world, preparing the human mind for the great events which are daily nearer approaching, when mankind will see their happiest and best interests, and know that their universal happiness, even in this life, is, and ever has been, the beneficent dispensation of their God and Saviour! A circumstance everywhere occurs in the correspondences, which manifests a general union of mind to receive all the instruction thus offered; for in every place the people are stated to apply with eagerness for copies, and with great solicitude to hear the addresses of the Missionaries. God has thus opened the hearts of the most obdurate, and encouraged them to listen to the Sacred Word of life. What may not be effectually done, when accompanied with_power from on high! Personal and pecuniary difficulties, not common to other undertakings, have been felt and overcome in these, ardour and alacrity have sprung forward to effect their divine instrumentality, wholly devoid of self-interest, and free from all worldly fame. All persuasions and sects, lay and ecclesiastical, Jew, Christian, Catholick, and Protestant, have all united in this glorious cause; the stern Deist and the Christian believer will not long be suffered to remain apart; and the Atheist, if there be such, or the Infidel of every degree, will soon be led to acknowledge the light that irradiates the joy of forgiveness upon his heart!-Thus shall he rejoice with joy unspeakable to view the day spring from on high, which in its benign visitation will finally secure every soul of man, as in one fold under one shepherd! 1 cannot conclude these brief ob servations without sending you the following extract from a Letter of W. B. Martin, Esq. late resident at Amboyna, to whose care was con fided the distribution of 3000 Malay Testaments, for which he had selected a certain number of individuals : "This intention I was afterwards com pelled to relinquish; as I found it impos sible to confine the distribution within the narrow limits which a rigorous adherence to it would have prescribed; for so great was the eagerness pervading the community to reap the benefit of a liberality which they had not before experienced, and of which they would not expect soon to witness the recurrence, that on the day appointed for the distribution, instead of the comparatively small and select number of individuals designated by the lists, the church was crowded by a multitude of people of both sexes, and of all ages, imploring, with an earnestness of supplication which could not be resisted, the un. reserved communication to them all, of an advantage which all appreciated, and all had been prepared, and were qualified to enjoy *." As the demand for the Holy Scriptures every where increases, so we may be allowed, in an enlarged proportion, to encourage the hopes above expressed, and “ may infer, from this general avidity to possess them, that the Gospel has begun to make its way, as it doubtless will ever spread. Where a fair effort is made to remove the obstructions of ignorance and incapacity, a free course is left to the blessed influence and operation of Divine Truth." Yours, &c. A. H. Mr. URBAN, Chelsea, Feb. 3. N your Supplement for 1819, Part ii. page 619, you inform your Readers of an egregious bite, without making any comment, save and except your sarcasm on the old goody who parted with a mirror into which, it seems, she had no wish to pore. These are your own words: “Some time since The Mirroor of the Worlde, edited and printed by JOHN CAXTON, in 1487, in perfect condition, was sold for the small sum of 2s. 6d. * Bib. Rep. All the world knows the bright manœuvres by which the Duke of Marlborough's famed Boccaccio came into the Earl Spencer's library at dentibus, ac annuentibus primoribus less than half price, astantibus, arri. Bibliomaniacorum. (See Gent. Mag. June, 1819, pp. 501. 503. 556.) Not to weary you with repetitions of similar instances, however, let one very recent case of good luck for this time suffice. On Thursday, 20th January, 1820, Mr. William Boone, a spirited young London, bought for only six shillings, bookseller, resident in the Strand, at a public sale by Mr. Robert Saun street, Lot 242, GEYLERI NAVICULA ders, the noted auctioneer of FleetFATUORUM, ARGENT. 1510. which is the first edition of a book remarkably curious and scarce. N. B. Of this singularly pious work [far more rare than the supposed first edition of Brant's STULTIFERA NAVIS, or even than Barclay's paraphrase copy was knocked down by Mr.Evans, called THE SHIP OF FOOLES] a neat at his sale of a library belonging to the late Mr. Edwards of Harrow, for pounds. the truly moderate sum of forty-three Books are two-edged tools, Mr. Urban. A true Bibliomaniac well knows how to show off all ticklish commodities with fascinating terms of art: and in a dainty Lincolne Nosegay' can touch up his own snug purchases slily to some golden tune. Still, the whole tribe of book. worms have Scriptural evidence that their ingenious devices are of very antient date indeed.“ Pessi mum est, ait emptor; sed quum digressus fuerit, tum se ipsum laudat." -Anglicè. "It is naught, it is naught, saith the buyer: but when he is gone his way, then he boasteth." Prov. xx.14. Your shrewd Correspondent, T. M. in p. 40, of your Magazine for Jan. 1820, seems mentally to assent to the orthodoxy of this doctrine, and the CANTER editions he mentions are to the utility of its practice. In truth, almost invaluable for their rare oc currence. A LOVER OF GREAT GAINS FROM BOOKS. ACCOUNT |