"I admit, therefore, that my grief is purely selfish. But the love of spiritual self, is what even her generous heart allowed, and I may therefore justly grieve at having lost my faithful monitress, the vigilant and enlightened friend of my soul, who never deserted the duty of pointing out to me what she saw to be wrong in my conversation and conduct, or opinions, on sacred subjects: of confirming me in what she thought to be right, and animating me to the Christian combat. Here is a loss which no human friend can supply. But God can make up to me even this loss by the guidance of his Holy Spirit."

EVANGELICAL REPENTANCE.-Evangelical repentance is the beginning of moral health in the soul. The Divine Physician then first achieves the victory over the moral diseases, which were before incurable; and the balm of Gilead begins to restore its decayed and ruined faculties.-Dr. Dwight.

REVIEW.

Scripture Biography; comprehending all the Names in the Old and New Testaments. By ESTHER COPLEY. One Vol. 8vo. cloth, pp. iv.-636. London: H. Fisher, R. Fisher, and P. Jackson. BIOGRAPHY, next to history, is the most instructive species of writing; and it is worthily demonstrated Philosophy teaching by example." Well written biography cannot ever fail to be popular, as it cannot be otherwise than edifying to all classes and to every age.

66

Scripture biography has employed the eloquent pens of Dr. Hunter and Mr. Robinson, and their valuable works will praise them to the latest generations. These great divines, however, have treated of the lives and characters of only a select number of the more distinguished characters recorded in the Bible.

Mrs. Copley, in her useful volume, has embraced the whole of those of whom the names are recorded in the Scripture; but of course the various articles are much shorter than the chapters of Mr. Robinson.

Mrs. Copley's own words will best explain the object of this work; and she says, "It is the design of this volume to present to the mind of the reader all the leading characters of the sacred history, and to point out such hints of instruction as they appear calculated to suggest. As it is desirable also to acquire a general knowledge of those individuals who occupy a less prominent place on the sacred page, an alphabetical arrangement has been adopted, with a view to facility of reference. A chronological table is also given, to display at one view the leading contemporary characters of each successive period."

Mrs. Copley's views of Christian theology are sound and evangelical, and her style is perspicuous: her discrimination of character is judicious, and her practical improvements are calculated to reach the conscience and improve the heart of every reasonable being. As a specimen of this work we give the following, as it relates to a remarkable character and is conveniently short.

"DIOTREPHES. NOURISHED OF JUPITER, or, THE FOSTER-SON OF JUPITER. We know very little of this person, of the place where he resided, or the office he sustained in the Christian church; but what little we know is greatly to his disadvantage, namely, that he was a man of a proud overbearing spirit, one

who loved to have the pre-eminence,' one who resisted the appeals of the apostle to his brethren to exercise their hospitality towards the poor persecuted Christians by whom they were visited; or, perhaps, being a Jewish convert, obstinately refused to hold communion with Gentile brethren. The apostle John cautioned his friend Gaius against this proud Christian, (what a contradiction in terms!) and declared his intention of severely rebuking him. Oh! how unlovely is a spirit of pride, and how unlike the spirit of the meek and lowly Saviour, who said, 'he that will be chief among you, let him be head of all, and servant of all.' Diotrephes is mentioned, John iii. 9, 10."

THE FALL THROUGH ADAM, AND RESTO-
RATION BY CHRIST.

CAN the thick gloom that hangs o'er sable night,
Where whirlwinds roar, and raging tempests fight,
Where mighty forests in the conflict bend
And ocean's billows all their fury spend ;-
Can deeper gloom that veils satanic reign,
Where dark despair in anguish gnaws his chain,
Where withering, sweeping blasts of judgment howl,
And hell-born spirits fierce as tigers prowl,
Portray the horrors of that fearful night
When the bright blaze of uncreated light,
Ceased to illumine Eden's sacred ground,
And sin's dark shadows gathered all around.
Yes! 'tis an emblem of the direful hour,
When our first parents bow'd to Satan's power;
When the glad light that cheered their opening day,
Sunk on their eyes, and died in shades away.
Where the lone traveller on his wild career,
Outstripp'd by night in some vast desert drear,
Hears the fierce lion's distant thundering roar,
And tells his footsteps as they nearer draw.
There hope may dart its animating ray,
Since the long night is but the step of day,
And prowling beasts may miss their deadly aim,
And death's devouring jaws may yawn in vain;
But lost on the wide howling waste of hell,
Fast bound in chains by Satan's magic spell,
There to hear chariot-wheels of God draw nigh,
And seek in vain their coming speed to fly;
Tremendous state! could Hope that gloom dispel?
Ye spirits speak, who, chained in Tophet yell;
Whose dark rebellion hurl'd you from your thrones,
And racks your breast with unexpiring groans.
Behold a wonder! O ye depths of hell,
See a bright light the midnight gloom dispel,
Lo! joy comes sparkling on despairing eyes,
And the sweet song of praise again shall rise.
Mercy speaks!-rebels, guilty as ye are,

In yonder east glows the bright Morning Star,
Whose beams shall spread again enlivening day,
And the dark night of guilt shall chase away.
Saviour thy seed while time its course shall run,
Shall to thy rising light with triumph come;
Successive ages shall their numbers pour,
Till countless as the sand on ocean's shore.

C.

London: Printed by JAMES S. HODSON, at his residence, No. 15, Cross Street, Hatton Garden, and Published by him at 112, Fleet Street; where all communications for the Editor (post paid) are to be addressed; sold also by Simpkin, Marshall, and Co., and by all other Booksellers, Newsvenders, &c. in the KingThe trade may be supplied in London, by STEILL, Paternoster Row; BERGER, Holywell Street, Strand; in Manchester, by Ellerby: Sheffield, Innocent; Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Finlay and Charlton.

dom.

THE ANNULAR ECLIPSE OF MAY 15, 1836. ASTRONOMERS cannot be atheists: yet, strange as it may seem, many who study the most sublime science, write atheistically, indicating minds destitute of the fear and love of God, while describing the wonderful monuments of his eternal power and Godhead. And such are to be found even in Christian Britainjudging from the manner in which they express themselves concerning the celestial bodies-those mightiest visible works of the Almighty Creator.

Astronomy, the noblest science which the human mind can contemplate, ought ever to be regarded as immediately related to religion, and studied with the most profound veneration for the character and perfections of God. Moses, in describing the creation of all things, and the other sacred writers in referring to the works of the Creator, afford us bright examples of the manner in which they should be treated; and the most sober reason cannot but approve the language of the devout Psalmist-"The heavens declare the glory of God: and the firmament showeth his handy work. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words unto the end of the

VOL, V.

world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun; which is a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race. His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof."

Astronomy presents to our view objects the most sublime and wonderful; whether we consider the vast magnitude of the bodies about which it is conversant their immense number-the surprising velocity of their motions-the prodigious forces requisite to impel them in their rapid career through the regions of the sky-the inconceivable spaces which surround them, and in which they perform revolutions-the magnificent circles which they de.. scribe-the majestic splendour of their appearance or the important ends they are appointed to serve in the grand system of the universe of their sovereign Lord.

Great and glorious as are the visible works of God, the order, revolutions, and harmony of the heavenly bodies appear most wonderful; and the most enlarged and powerful intellects, in the present improved state of astronomical science, can grasp but a small portion of this infinite machinery. Still comparatively large advances have been made since Sir Isaac Newton gave to the world the rich fruits

Y

of his patient, laborious, and successful investigations and demonstrations. The accuracy with which astronomers calculate and describe the various changes and appearances of the celestial luminaries, is altogether astonishing to the mass of mankind, and nothing seems more extraordinary than the manner in which they foretel the eclipses of the sun and moon.

Readers of the Christian's Penny Magazine, might naturally expect some remarks on the recent eclipse of the sun, and we have waited until after that instructive illustration of the wisdom and power of God, to be able to give some brief account of its actual appearance, with an explanation of the cause of eclipses of the sun and moon.

CAUSES OF THE ECLIPSES.

Milton beautifully alludes to the consternation which filled the minds of nations by an eclipse, before the cause was explained by the advancement of science:

As when the sun, new risen,
Looks through the horizontal misty air
Shorn of his beams, or from behind the moon,
In dim eclipse, disastrous twilight sheds
On half the nations, and with fear of change
Perplexes monarchs."-Paradise Lost.

Mr. W. Martin, in his instructive "Christian Philosopher," gives the following lucid explanation of the cause of eclipses, and it is given as better adapted for its purpose, than others which generally abound with technicalities.

"As the earth is an opaque body enlightened only by the sun, it must cast a shadow towards that side which is furthest from the sun. If the sun and earth were of the same size, this shadow would be cylindrical, and would extend to an infinite distance; but as the sun is much larger than the earth, the shadow of the latter must be conical, ending in a point. On the sides of this conical shadow, there is a diverging shadow, the density of which decreases in proportion as it recedes from the sides of the former conical shadow; this is called the penumbra. As the moon revolves round the earth, sufficiently near to pass through the shadow of the earth, an eclipse must always take place when the earth, the moon, and the sun, are all in one straight line. An eclipse of the moon can never happen but at the time of full moon: but on account of the inclination of the moon's orbit to that of the earth, an eclipse does not take place every full moon. When the moon passes entirely through the earth's shadow, the eclipse is total; but when only a part of it passes through the shadow, the eclipse is partial. The quantity of the moon's disk which is eclipsed (and the same thing is to be understood of that of the sun, in a solar eclipse) is expressed in the number of digits, that is, the disk is supposed to be divided into 12 equi-distant parallel lines; then if half the disk is eclipsed, the quantity of the eclipse is said to be six digits.

The eclipses of the sun are owing to a different cause to those of the moon. They are occasioned by the moon coming directly between us and the sun, and therefore obstructing our view of it. When the moon happens to be in conjunction with the sun, or between the sun and the earth, viz. at the time of the new moon, the shadow of the moon falls upon the surface of the earth, hence, properly speaking, such eclipses should be called eclipses of the earth. But the whole disk of the earth cannot be involved in the shadow of the moon, because the moon is much smaller than the earth; and besides the shadow

of the moon is conical. As the moon is not always at the same distance from the earth, it sometimes happens, that the conical dense shadow does not reach the earth; and only the penumbral shadow falls upon it; the eclipse consequently is partial to every part of the earth: those who are at the centre of the penumbra will lose sight of the centre of the sun, by the interposition of the moon's body, which subtending a smaller angle than the sun, will not entirely cover its surface, so that there will be a ring of light: the eclipse is then said to be annular.

:

"Seven is the greatest number of eclipses that can happen in the year, and two the least if there be seven, five must be of the sun, and two of the moon: if there be only two, both must be of the sun, for in every year there are at least two eclipses of the sun. There can never be more than three eclipses of the moon in the year, and in some years there are

none.

"When any of the planetary bodies disappear be hind another or by the moon's passing before it, the event is called an occultation. The eclipse of Jupiter's moons are of great use in determining the longitude; the occultation of the fixed stars by the moon are made use of by mariners for the same purpose."

THE GREAT ANNULAR ECLIPSE.

The following interesting communication was given from a correspondent, in the Times on Monday, the day after that grand phenomenon.

"The streets and park of Greenwich were yesterday crowded by an immense concourse of visitors from London and many towns at a considerable distance, thinking, in consequence of the report that had been circulated by the agents of the steam-packets employed between the stations on the river, that the precincts of Greenwich Observatory would be thrown open to the public for the purpose of viewing the progress of the eclipse through the apparatus of that institution. In this idea it is needless to say they were, however, disappointed. The public were freely admitted into the park, but only a favoured few scientific individuals were permitted to pass within the gates of the Observatory, which were actually besieged by a crowd of applicants for admittance, several of whom said that they had letters to Mr. May and his colleagues. So anxious were many to gain an entrance, that it was necessary to call in the aid of the police to save the gates from being actually borne down by the rush of the united hundreds, and a few mathematical ladies were more clamorous than the men. Except a few astronomical amateurs, who were particularly enthusiastic, the public were, however, pretty well consoled by the preparations of the Greenwich pensioners, who had arranged around the Observatory, and at the gate of the park, an imposing array of telescopes, diagrams, mathematical pamphlets, and philosophical dissertations on the relation between the moon and the tide, from the hire and sale of which the veterans reaped a plentiful harvest. At five minutes past one, the first obscuration of the sun, in the form of a segment of a circle, was visible. At about two o'clock the moon had encroached to the extent of several digits on the diameter of the great luminary. At this period, when viewed through a telescope of about 80 degrees magnifying power, the apertures or black spots in the body of the sun seemed to be within a digit and a half of the nearest point of the circular edge of the moon. The planet then in a compound orbicular path, describing an ellipsis between south, north, and west, continued to intercept the rays of the sun until twenty minutes past three, when the eclipse reached

its extent, leaving an annular segment of the sun from south to east, which was equal in depth to about one-fourth of the entire solar diameter. The darkness, probably owing to the extraordinary clearness of the atmosphere, was not so great as had been anticipated, and consequently, to ordinary telescopes the stars that had been marked out in the diagrams as visible were not to be seen. The moon had passed at about a quarter to four, and the sun re-illumining the horizon, as if with increased effulgence, the visitors were favoured with the best opportunity of examining the unrivalled prospect of shipping and country which the elevated parts of Greenwich afford. The interest of the observation of the phenomenon was, even more than the picturesque beauty, enhanced by the circumstance of its being high water during the gloom of the eclipse. Some persons, whose ideas seem rather to have been formed from lingering superstition than astronomical calculation, thought that the opposition of the sun and moon would have inundated the banks on both sides of the river, and they accordingly congregated on the heights until the moon had completed its transit. As the professional calculations of the gentlemen engaged at the Observatory must be before the public in a few days, we shall not anticipate them by any observations on the probable effect of the state of the tide yesterday on the theory of the moon's influence on the waters."

The eclipse began at Greenwich 51 minutes, 12 seconds after 1.

37 minutes after 1

18

Bristol Dublin

1

MISSIONARY FAREWELL MEETING. AMERICAN MISSIONARY FAREWELL MEETING. AMERICAN missionary zeal appears far more vigorous and ardent than the same spirit even in England. Whatever may be thought of the American character -politics-or prejudices-their activity in the cause of the evangelization of the heathen is remarkable. This will be strikingly illustrated by the following account of the designation of seven missionaries with their wives, on Sabbath evening, Nov. 15, 1835, at Philadelphia, which cannot fail to be read with delight:

"A very impressive and highly interesting farewell Missionary Meeting was held on Sabbath evening last, in the second Presbyterian church of this city, of which the Rev. Dr. Cuyler is pastor, at which time the Rev. Messrs. James McEwen, and James R. Campbell, Messrs. Wm. S. Rogers, Jesse S. Jamieson, and Joseph Porter, with their wives, viz. Mrs. Sarah McEwen, Mary Campbell, Julia Ann Rogers, Rebecca Jamieson, and Harriet J. Porter, the Missionary reinforcement for Northern India, under the direction of the Western Board of Foreign Missions, received their final instructions from the Rev. Mr. Swift, Corresponding Secretary of the Society.

“At the same time and place, the Rev. Messrs. Winslow and Dwight, and their wives, destined for the Ceylon Mission, under the direction of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, also received their instructions from the Rev. Mr. Anderson, one of the Secretaries of that Board.

"The following was the order of the exercises 1. Invocation by the Rev. Dr. Alexander, and singing; 2. Address by the Rev. Mr. Anderson; 3. Organization of the Mission Family by the Rev. Mr Swift; 4. Consecrating prayer by the Rev. Dr. Cuyler; 5. Instructions by the Rev. Mr. Smith ; 6. Singing (Farewell Missionary Hymn), by the Missionaries; 7. Address by the Rev. Mr. Winslow; 8. Address by the Rev. Dr. Alexander (in behalf of the Missionaries); 9. Prayer by the Rev. Mr. Tate, singing and benediction.

"The Missionaries left the city on Monday at noon to proceed to the ship Charles Wharton, Capt. Dolby, bound to Calcutta. The following stanzas, written after the departure of the Missionaries, were sent down to the ship on Tuesday morning."

THE CHARLES WHARTON MISSION SHIP.
THAT ship! that ship! why on her way
Doth thought so fondly linger still?
High o'er her bows the surges play,
Her sails the urging breezes fill-
She pushes nobly through the foam;
That ship! that ship! why cluster there
Remembrances of love and home,

And early joys and hours of prayer?
That ship that ship! she hath with her.
Hearts strongly link'd within our heart;
Names that awake its kindly stir-

God speed them!-yet 'twas hard to part.
She hath with her our cherished child-
A brother, sister, treads her deck;
Part of ourselves are on the wild

Wide waves, the field of many a wreck.
Their gaze! their gaze! we see it yet-
What years were in that earnest look!
The expression we may not forget

As eye from eye the farewell took.
'Twas something of earth's love, but much
Of heaven lit up each beaming face ;
'Twas sweetly solemn-only such

As speaks unwonted, inward grace.
That ship she left us yesterday,-

Our words were few, but tears were given;-
Last sobs, last looks,-she's on her way,
And we have left them all with heaven!

The sea reflects her silver track,

Our steps to silent home are bent;
We would not, dare not beckon back
The messengers that God hath sent.
That ship! that ship! what teeming clouds
Of blessings wrap her as she sails!
What suppliance follows as she crowds
Her canvass to propitious gales!
That beautifully may be found

Glad feet on many an idol hill;
'Till Sharon's roses cheer that ground,
And streams of Life those valleys fill.
W. B. TAPPAN.

WEST-KENT YOUNG MEN'S SOCIETY. "YOUNG Men's Societies," it is feared, are not prospering in every part of the country in a degree corresponding with their importance. They are manifestly adapted to promote the intellectual and spiritual improvement of their members; and therefore they deserve the patronage of matured intelli

gent Christians, especially of Christian ministers. How far they have been established through our favoured land, and carried on with vigour and prudence we shall be happy to learn; and any suggestions by which they may be improved, it will be our happiness to publish for the benefit of our young friends. In the meantime we have pleasure in noticing the proceedings of the last anniversary meeting of the West-Kent Young Men's Society.

This meeting was held on Tuesday evening, March 15th, in the commodious Sunday-school room, Deptford. The Rev. T. Timpson presided on the occasion; when, after singing and prayer, the report of the past year's proceedings was read to a very numerous assembly, chiefly of young persons.

practice that has injured Christianity and insulted revelation, heresies of every possible kind, superstition even to folly, persecutions most cruel, and forced conversions, contributed to dishonour the very name of Christian. Beside these facts, the Mahometan imposture commenced immediately after the maturity of the papal power; and therefore it is not surprising that the completion of that great apostacy should have opened a wide door for the successful propagation of that system, which speciously founded itself on the eternal truth, that God alone is the proper object of religious worship, and boasted of exposing and rejecting the idolatry of the Roman church. The king was to succeed but not by his own power, craft and policy were to prosper in his hand, and by peace he was to destroy many. Accordingly, Mahometanism did not prevail by the strength of its own theological system, but by the extraneous power of the sword, which was no less crafty than warlike,

Several animated speeches were delivered on the inestimable benefits arising from the possession of sound, scriptural knowledge; and the excellent and devoted president, Mr. Rudhale, was presented with John Mason Goode's Book OF NATURE, in three volumes, as an expression of the esteem in which the members of the Society hold their president; and in gratitude for the advantages derived from his diligent and kind direction of the Association.

ON MAHOMETANISM.
No. IV.

PREDICTED TERMINATION OF THE MAHOMETAN
IMPOSTURE.

In attempting to trace THE ASPECT OF THE PROPHETIC SCRIPTURES CONCERNING THE TERMINATION OF THE MAHOMETAN POWER, I feel the need of hesitancy in forming, and caution in expressing an opinion, since, in comparing the various elements of compilation which subsist relative thereto, many difficulties are to be encountered, and much discordancy of opinion prevails. With due deference, however, to the general principles of prophetic interpretation, and of the attention demanded to unfulfilled prophecy, I shall select such of the principles as appear most obvious.

The emblematical vision of the prophet Daniel contained in the eighth chapter of his prophecies, and the interpretation of the angel Gabriel, has by most commentators been referred to Mahomet, and I may say, that there is such a minute and circumstantial coincidence between the prediction and its accomplishment, in the history of the East, as is amply sufficient of itself to attest the inspiration of the book. The points of resemblance may be traced in the following particulars. The king of fierce countenance" was to set himself against the south, and the east, and the north. Mahomet's first conquests were to the south and east in Arabia, and then in Syria on the north. He was to stand up at a time of universal transgression. In the time of Mahomet, every error in doctrine, discipline, or

lusive peace, and the arts of most destructive wars. It is further predicted, that a host was given against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression. Accordingly, a rival priesthood, the Imams of Mahomet, were permitted to subvert the priesthood of the degenerate church, and mosques were erected on the ruins of once Christian sanctuaries. The last words of the interpreting angel," But he shall be broken without hand" are apparently unfulfilled. In the consultation, however, which is reported to have been held by some holy beings, the period is computed for the termination of the Mahometan empire. With the assigned date I shall not meddle, nor seek the aid of those who have applied much of skill to its investigation. Sufficient is it for us to know that a false faith must eventually bow to the authority of the true, and that our Redeemer will "reign till he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power."

The other equally remarkable coincidences are found in the ninth chapter of the book of Revelation. "Our best commentators are agreed," says Mr. Faber," in the leading proposition, that the woe of the locusts relates to the rise of Mahometanism, and to the flourishing period of the Saracenic caliphate." The chief points of resemblance are the following:The appearing of the locusts is preceded by a dense smoke. The military power of Mahomet was preceded by the dense and noxious exhalations of his corrupt theology. They had on their heads as it were crowns like gold. The Arabs have constantly worn turbans, and boasted in wearing as common attire, those ornaments which among other people are the peculiar badges of royalty. They had faces like men and hair like women. The Arabs wore their beards as men, while their hair like that of women was flowing or braided. They had a king over them, whose name was Abaddon, or Apollyon, or the Destroyer. Mahomet, as a secular conqueror and propagator of a false religion, stood to his allies in the double relation of a temporal and a spiritual chief, and therefore his official denomination, The Commander of the Faithful, was aptly expressed. Command was given them not to hurt the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree. It is not a little remarkable that when Yezid was marching to invade Syria, the caliph, Abu-Beker, laid upon him this injunction, " Destroy no palm-trees, nor burn any fields of corn; and cut down no fruittrees." Their commission extended only to hurt those men who had not the seal of God in their foreheads. It is a striking fact, that while the Saracens conquered the greater part of the Greek empire, the South of Italy, and nearly the whole of Spain, the