It appears very improbable to us, that birds or beasts should be endowed with prophetic powers, and that the governor of the universe should write the fates of empires and individuals upon the bowels of a victim offered in sacrifice to demons; yet is it more probable that be should reveal the fortunes of kingdoms, or the events of battles, or the calamities of private persons, by spectres in the air; or delineate them upon the surface of the sun, the moon, or the stars? The heavens do, indeed, declare the power and glory of God; but the Bible has no where taught us to look up there for the revelation of future events, or an authentic declaration of the divine will, on subjects moral or political. 3. If the greater part of mankind be very incompetent judges of what physical phenomena are natural, and what are preternatural, they are still less qualified to give an authentic interpretation of the specific intention and design of Divine Providence in the production of them. Let us suppose that ships, or armies, or any other aerial spectra present themselves to the eye, by what authority are thesc, or any more remarkable metears, declared to be a sort of heralds at arms, denouncing the divine vengeance against a city or a kingdom? Why is every thing, which the unlearned chuse to call a prodigy, clothed in the habiliments of death, and indicative of nothing but calamity? No sufficient reason can be given, from observation, from history, or from divine revelation, why these appearances, if they signify any thing, may not as often be signs of peace and prosperity, as of famine, pestilence, or the sword. To concede the rest, they are very equivocal, ambiguous, delusive oracles, which may be made to utter any prediction that the fancy of the interpreter may dictate. They are like mercenary soldiers, ready to fight on any side, and are always disposed to serve the purposes of those who know best how to manage them. The pretensions of the expounders of omens, prodigies, &c. are commonly weak and absurd sometimes they are presumptuous and impious, like the false prophets of old who spake in the name of the Lord, when the Lord had not sent them. When Zuinglius, the great reformer, was slain in battle, the opposite party having found his dead body, treated it with great indecency, and, at length, burnt it. The heart of Zuinglius being found intire among the ashes, his adversaries interpreted this circumstance as indicating uncommon hardness and stubbornness of mind; while his friends concluded, from this fiery ordeal, that his heart was nobly stout and sincere. Thus, when men are under the power of love or hatred, hope or fear, indifference or bigotry, their predictions and interpretations will be tinged with the predominant dispositions of their minds, and they will make the mystic charac ters of the Almighty speak in the language of human passion and infirmity. 4. That state of mind by which men are induced to look for prodigies, and supernatural agency, in every new or unusual occurrence, tends powerfully to draw them away from an habitual and sober attention to the word of God; and by seducing them into superstition or enthusiasm, to conduct them finally into error and apostacy. Let a man once fancy that he is favoured with visions, or is endowed with the faculty of interpreting omens, and he is placed beyond the possibility of rational or scriptural conviction; for it is vain to press him with arguments who has a prodigy, a miracle, or a revelation, to object against any conclusion that may bear forcibly upon his principles or practice. But the mischief is not always confined to the individual, for fanatics and visionaries carry a principle of contagion along with them; and when a man has got a tale of wonder ready, on suitable occasions, to communicate to his followers in private, or his admirers in public; and when these are mingled with the motives to faith and hope, to fear and repentance; the gospel of Christ is polluted and degraded by the mixture of these vain conceits: and this false and dangerous measure, is substituted for the scripture standard of truth and error, of good and evil. Hence it follows, that men become more earnest about fictions and fancies, visions and voices, than in studying their duty: they meditate more seriously on pretexts, omens, and prodigies, than on the divine admonitions: and a comet, or a meteor, will excite more solemn thoughts than the scriptural account of hell. This erroneous turn of thinking is as inimical to peace and comfort, as it is injurious to the nature of true religion. When men live in a state of servile fear and timorous apprehension, falling into dismay and consternation at every unusual phenomena in the air or commotion of the earth, and concluding that wrath and judgment are by these appearances denounced upon them; such a state of mind has a tendency to extinguish all high and generous thoughts of God, and to reduce religion under the bondage of an abject and gloomy superstition. This is exemplified throughout the whole history of paganism; and as many of its delusions and irreligious practices were transferred into the christian church, they were gradually propagated with the progress of popery, till the Roman communion became the nursery of those signs and lying wonders," which have polluted and disgraced christianity through so many ages. If among other benefits of the reformation we have learnt that the Bible contains the religion of Protestants, it is high time that we renounce all other oracles but those which are inspired by the Holy Ghost; and in these we shall find abundant information concerning the signs which indicate the divine displeasure. Let those who would be wise above what is written," fear, lest, in forsaking the lawful and authorised mode of instruction, they should be permitted to fall into "strong delusions, to believe a lie," and become the sad victims of their own wilful credulity. The genius of christianity is modest and submissive, teachable and gentle, the parent of peace, serenity, and stedfastness; and in proportion as it predominates, it inspires the "spirit of love, of power, and of a sound mind." THE FOLLOWING LETTER, dated New York, Sept. 6, 1804, has appeared in several English newspapers, and though we cannot vouch for its accuracy, we are of opinion that it contains a very probable account of THE SUFFERINGS OF MADAME TOUSSAINT. "THE widow of the unfortunate Toussaint has just landed upon our continent.. Her account of her own and her husband's sufferings, from Bonaparte's tyranny, would be incredible, were they not already equalled by the Corsican's former atrocities, and those of his accomplices. Her mutilated limbs and numerous wounds are, besides, visible proofs of the racks and other instruments of torture from which she has suffered in the dungeons of free, enlightened, and civilized France, and under which, little doubt remains that General Toussaint expired. When the fear and love of God are prevailing principles in the mind; when we set the Lord alway before us," and live under a lively impression of his perpetual omnipresence; when, by holy desires and devout af fections, we hold an intercourse with heaven, and are thereby animated to abound in every good word and work; we shall live and move in an element where these gross and senseless chimeras can never ascend to intercept the beams of heavenly wisdom, or distract and agitate a heart united to God through Jesus Christ. 'From the moment Le Clerc, by perfidy and breach of treaties, got her husband and herself into his possession, they were loaded with chains, and, during their whole passage to France, they continued in irons, with hardly food enough to support life. At their landing in Bourdeaux, they were separated, though shut in the same prison, What happened since to her husband she does not know, nor is she yet certain whether he has perished, as the French papers have published, in a dungeon at Besancon; or whether, with a mutilated body, he continues to breathe the pestilential air of French gaols, exposed to the cruelties of, and enduring that refinement in torment which French ingenuity so ably invents, and of which Corsican barbarity so willingly makes use. Her first examination was before Lucien Bonaparte's brother-inlaw, the police commissary at Bourdeaux, Pierre Pierre, who told her, that her grave was already dug, and that her last day was come, if she did not immediately discover the place where her husband's secret correspon dence with the English was concealed, and where his and her own treasures were deposited and buried.' Ilaving never heard of any secret transactions with the English, and be ing convinced that, when Le Clerc so perfidiously surprized her husband, he got possession of, not only all his papers, but of all his money, amount ing to about 300,000 livres (£12,500.) band having confessed more than scended by a flight of steps. There remember that she was born a French subject. Madame Toussaint has lost, from tortures, the use of her left arm; and has no less than forty-four wounds on different parts of her body, Pieces of flesh have been torn from her breasts as with hot irons, together with six nails of her toes-a living witness of the humanity and honour of the tender Emperor of the French, the august chief of the legion of honour. As the climate of America does not agree with her decayed constitution, she intends, as soon as she has collected the wreck of her fortune, to settle at Jamaica, if the British Government shall think proper*." After the above horrid detail, it may be gratifying to our readers to see an account of this lady, and of the domestic felicity which she once enjoyed, as it was drawn in 1797, from personal observation, by the hand of a Frenchman, and inserted in a French journal of that year. The account is long, and contains many interesting particulars respecting Toussaint himself, which we may lay before our readers on some future occasion. At present we shall confine our extracts to what respects his lady. "I had long been desirous of studying the domestic character of Toussaint, and I went to visit him in company with one of his nephews, On our arrival we found only his wife at home, but while we were conversing with her, the arrival of the general in chief was announced. Upon hearing the name of her husband, I observed that her countenance brightened. When he entered, she eager ly rose to embrace him. They sat down beside each other, and a si lence of some minutes succeeded, during which I was not a little astor nished to observe in their behaviour to each other, and in their expressive looks, all the tender emotions which two young lovers may be expected to experience. I broke this silence by telling the general how happy I was to see him. He thanked me with a smile, took me by the hand, and turn ed once again to embrace his spouse, *We sincerely hope that she may be dissuaded from adopting this dangerous resolution. Let her remain in America, or let her come to reside in England; but let her not trust herself within the preeincts of a slave colony. The conversation then became gay of the evening his wife formed the and animated, but during the whole principal topic. He related almost all the details of his domestic life for twenty years, mingled with traits of the greatest interest, among which I perceived much that discovered the man calculated to influence the lot of his species, and to be the preparer of great events. I was determined," said he, to choose my wife myself. My master wished me to marry some young coquetish negress; but I refused, being convinced that I could self. Until the revolution I never had best form a happy marriage for mytivated our little field; we went out been absent from my wife. We culand returned together at the same hour; and, animated by the attention of each other, we forgot at night the fatigues of the day. Heaven blessed our labours; for we not only lived in the midst of plenty, and could save something for other times, but we had the inexpressible pleasure of being able to supply the wants of the less fortunate blacks of the plantation. On Sundays and holidays, my wife and I went to mass, in company with our relations. Upon our return to our cabin we had an agreeable repast, and the sequel of the day, which was spent in domestic enjoyment, was terminated by a prayer which we made in common. The greatest pain I ever experienced was occasioned by my being under the necessity of parting from my wife at the com mencement of the revolution. I could not fight with courage, and had no spirit to proceed in my military ope rations, until I knew that she was in a place of safety. I was not happy until I had procured this retreat for her, where I come and pass my time agreeably, and relieve myself from the anxiety of public affairs.' The situation of the general's house is the most beautiful and pictu resque I ever saw in the colony is nine leagues from Gonaives, and This agreeable and peaceful solitude three from the Spanish quarter of the island. The house stands upon á piece of rising ground, and is sur rounded by the cabins of black cultivators. Below are some coffee plantations on the bank of a river which comes from the Spanish side, and forms two-thirds of a circle round the general's house. The eye takes in at once all the plantations, which are in the finest state of cultivation. The view is bounded on each side by trees, whose position renders the valley charming, and makes it present a most enchanting picture. Every thing in General Toussaint's house has the air of order and decency. His wife, notwithstanding the trouble she takes in managing the affairs of her family, attends also to the cultivation of coffee. Toussaint shewed which was cultivated by her and her women. "Citizeness Toussaint is near forty years of age; and though the largest woman I met with in St. Domingo, her person is agreeable. Her physiognomy is gentle, and expressive of candour. She seems to have all the modesty of a girl of twenty, and every thing that surrounds her partakes of the simplicity that characterises her manners. STATE OF THE AMERICAN SLAVE TRADE. We have derived the following statement from the most authentic sources, and we insert it in the hope that it may tend to obviate one argument which has been employed by the advocates of the Slave Trade in favour of its continuance, viz. that, if relinquished by us, it would be carried on to an equal extent by the American States. The American constitution contains a provision that, previous to the year 1808, Congress shall not prohibit the introduction of slaves into any state, nor impose a higher tax than ten dollars on each slave imported. But though the general government is thus fettered, it has shewn a decided hostility to the Slave Trade on all occasions: and when, during the last winter, the passing of the bill for the temporary government of Louisiana brought the subject more immediately under discussion, so strong were the feelings manifested by the legisla ture, that no doubt can be entertained of a final period: being put to the American Slave Trade, whenever the fime shall arrive when Congress is constitutionally authorized to abolish it. This conclusion derives great force from the consistent conduct which Congress has uniformly pursued with respect to this trafic. In 1794, an act was passed prohibiting any Am rican subject to carry on the Slave Trade for supplying foreign nations, under forfeiture of the ship and all her appurtenances, and of two hundred dollars for each and every slave taken on board and sold; and of two thousand dollars to be paid by each and every person engaged in such adventure. And in case even of its being suspected that a vessel is intended for the Slave Trade, the act obliges the owner, agent, or master, to give bond, with sureties, that no natives of Africa shall be taken on board his ship to be sold within nine months from that time. In the year 1800 it was declared unlawful for any American citizen, or any person residing in America, to hold any property, directly or indirectly, in a vessel employed in carrying slaves from one foreign country to another; and the penalty imposed was the forfeiture of such property, and a sum equal to double its value, Of the interest which such person may together with a sum double the value have had in the slaves at any time transported in such vessel. It was at the same time declared, that no ci tizen of the United States should serve on board any slave ship, whe ther American or foreign, under the penalty of two thousand dollars, and imprisonment for two years, provided the serving on board was not com pulsory; and that any American ship so employed may be captured by the commissioned vessels of the United States, and sold with all her cargo (except the slaves) for the benefit of the captors; and that, in such case, the whole of the crew shall be con veyed to the civil authority of the states. On the 26th of March, 1804, an act of Congress was passed, prohibit. ing the importation of slaves from foreign places into Louisiana, under a penalty of three hundred dollars for every slave imposed on each person importing or knowingly aiding in inporting them; and it is only under very strict regulations, enforced by very heavy penalties, that slaves can be carried to Lousiania from any o ther part of the United States. In addition to which, all persons brought into Louisiana as slaves, contrary to the provisions of this act, are declar ed to be immediately free, Besides the above proceedings of the general legislature of the states, |