Associations, during the last two years; and partly to the more zealous efforts of those previously instituted."

The various Resolutions were moved and seconded by the Rev. Dr. Wardlaw, the Rev. Joseph Julian, Thomas Smith, Henry Townley, David Stuart, John Morison, Joseph Fletcher, Edward Irving, Mark Wilks, Professor Stapfer of Paris, Dr. Pinkerton, Dr. Paterson, the Rev. Mr. Marsden (Wesleyan,) John Dyer, (Secretary to the Baptist Missionary Society) and by Robert Steven, and Thomas Brightwell, Esqrs.

The collections at the different services were £ 1304 1s. 1d.

MAY 17.-The Protestant Society for the Protection of Religious Liberty.-The Twelfth Anniversary Meeting of this Society was held at the City of London Tavern, Lord Dacre in the chair. The meeting overflowed, as usual, at an early hour. . After a few introductory observations from the noble Chair. man, and some extracts from the minutes of the Committee, read by Mr. Pellatt, Mr. J. Wilks, the other Honorary Secre tary, rose and addressed the Meeting with his usual ability and effect. Taking a review of the cases of the past year, he divid ed them into the usual classes, beginning with those of a pecuniary nature, as Turnpike Charges, Taxing of Chapels, &c. Mr. W. informed the Meeting, that since the last Anniversary an Act had been passed, exempting Dissenters, as well as Churchmen, from all Sunday tolls in going to, or returning from, their customary places of worship, Several fresh attempts had beɛn made to assess Dissenting Chapels and School-rooms; and a Mr. P. Watson, of Newcastle, had been imprisoned for a contempt of the Ecclesiastical court, arising out of Easter Offerings.

Parochial relief had been withdrawn from paupers on ac count of their attendance at Dissenting chapels; and a publican had been threatened with the loss of his licence because an iti nerant preacher put up there. Several riots had taken place at Dissenting places of worship, and in some cases the magis

trates had taken part with the rioters. In other instances, however, justice had been done.

(To be continued.)

SIERRA LEONE.

Distressing Intelligence from Sierra Leone.

At a Meeting of the Committee of the Church Missionary Society, held on Monday, the 14th of July, 1823, the Secretary stated that he had very afflicting intelligence to report from Sierra Leone, not less than Five persons connected with the Society having been removed from their labours between the 20th of April and the 8th of May, among whom was their excellent friend, the Rev. W. Johnson. On Sunday, April the 20th, Mr. James Bunyer, School-master in Freetown, died about one o'clock in the morning, after a short illness, and was buried the same evening-Friday, the 25th. the Rev. W. H. Schemel died, after several weeks decline-Saturday, the 26th, the remains of Mr. Schemel were committed to the grave: on the same day, the Rev. W. Johnson sailed for England, apparently in perfect health-Tuesday, the 29th, Mr. Johnson was taken ill-Saturday, May the 3d, the Rev. S. Flood, First Colonial Chaplain, sailed for England, somewhat indisposed at the time; and on the same day the Rev. W. Johnson died at sea-Sunday, the 4th, the Rev. H. Palmer Second Colonial Chaplain, preached in the morning at Freetown, and administered the Lord's Supper; but was taken ill in the afternoon, and was carried up to Regent's Town-Tuesday, the 6th, the Rev. S. Flood died at sea- Wednesday, the 8th the Rev. H. Palmer died at Regent's Town.-Miss. Reg. July, 1823.

Scientiäc Department.

A Comparative Estimate of the Mineral and Mosaic Geologies. By GRANVILLE PENN, Esq.

IN no department of Science has there been so much trifling with Divine Truth, as in Geology: and in none, perhaps, has it been left so much at the mercy of its enemies, without a friend to maintain its cause. It is true that the bold speculations of Geologists have been denied, and there has been no Christian who has not felt confident that the ground of his faith was too strong to be shaken by such winds of doctrine. But till now these speculations have never been sifted with sufficient care, nor the credibility of the Mosaic history of the creation, sufficiently shewn upon the principles of reason as well as of faith. Now, however, it has been done: and we congratulate our Christian Readers, and the world at large, on the appearance of the admirable book whose title stands at the head of the page. We are sorry that we have not had the pleasure of perusing the work itself; we believe not a copy of it has yet reached India. But we have seen analyses of it, in two periodical works of eminence, which have made us acquainted with so much in it that is important and interesting in the highest degree, that we cannot delay imparting what is in our possession, to all within our reach. We may remark that the warmest eulogiums are passed upon the work by the critics who notice it, and it seems most fully to deserve them. The Analysis which we shall principally use is that which has appeared in No. 29 of Brande's Quarterly Journal of Science, published in April 1823. We shall not be scrupulous about using the language of the Analy sis, as far as we find it convenient, when we have no hesitation in embracing its sentiments as our own.

"The object of this work, as its title denotes, is to examine and decide between the Mineral and the Mosaical geologies, as to their respective pretensions to guide us in our investigation

of the modes by which, and the times in which, the several classes of mineral matter composing this earth received their sensible formations.

"The latter of these geologies is of very great antiquity, and rests its credit for the truth of the historical facts which it relates, upon a record pretending to divine revelation, and acknowledged as such by the uninterrupted assent of some of the best and wisest of mankind, for upwards of three thousand years. The former is of very

recent origin, and can hardly be said to have existed in a state approaching to maturity for more than half a century. It does not indeed pretend to oppose any record to that of the other; but it aspires to establish a series of historical facts, by induction from chemical principles newly discovered, which, it affirms, disclose evidence of truth superior to any that is presented in the professedly historical document, and which must, therefore, qualify the credit which that document is entitled to receive.

"It pretends that, by employing the method of analysis and induction from observation, sound principles of physics, and the rules of an exact logic,' introduced by the happy revolu tion effected by Bacon and Newton in the studies of the natural sciences, and by adhering to the rules taught and practised by those great teachers, it is able to reason from the sensible phenomena of mineral matter, to the mode of its first formations and subsequent changes.' The Mineral Geology (under which term our author includes the Wernerian and Huttonian, as well as all other geological systems not founded on the Mosaic history) appeals, therefore, to the philosophy of Bacon and Newton in proof of its own validity; and since the merits of the two geologies can only be tried by applying both to some common and agreed test, the Mosaic consents to submit itself unconditionally to the same philosophy, and to leave to its verdict the ultimate decision, which is true, and which false-for so wholly contradictory are they to each other, that whichever of them be true, the other must of ne cessity be absolutely and fundamentally false.'

The mineral geology concludes, from the crystalline phenomena of this earth, that it was originally a confused mass of elemental prin

ciples, suspended in a vast dissolution, a chaotic ocean, or original chaotic fluid; which, after an unassignable series of ages, settled themselves at last into the order and correspondence of parts which it now possesses, by a gradual process of precipitation and crystalJization, according to certain laws of matter, which it denominates the laws of affinity of composition and aggregation, and that they thus formed successively, though remotely in time, 1. a chemical, 2. a mineral, and lastly, a geognostic, which is its present, struc

ture.

"Is this conformable to Newton on the same subject?

"It seems probable to me (said the wise, sober, and circumspect Newton,) that God in the beginning, formed matter in solid, massy, hard, impenetrable, moveable particles, of such sizes and figures, and with such other properties, and in such proportions to space, as most conduced to the end for which he formed them. All material things seem to have been composed of the hard and solid particles above-mentioned, variously associated in the first creation, by the counsels of an intelligent agent. For it became him who created them to set them in order, and if he did so, it is unphilosophical to seek for any other origin of this world, or to pretend that it might rise out of a chaos by the mere laws of nature; though, being once formed, it may continue by those laws for many ages.*

"So much for the first result of the application of the test. "The mineral geology has stated further, that 'during the long process of crystallization and precipitation, and before it attained to its present solidity, the earth acquired its peculiar figure (that of an oblate spheroid) by the operation of the physi· cal laws which cause it to revolve on its axis.' This Newton had observed to be the form of the planets; and reasoning on the fact, he discovered that the 'rule of harmony and equilibrium' between the two antagonist powers of gravity and centrifugal force, can only be found in that figure. Hence the mineral geology appeals to his philosophy in support of its assertion, and concludes, since the earth has that spheroidal form which its motion of rotation ought to produce in a liquid mass, it follows, necessarily, that it must have been fluid.' "This however does not follow necessarily, nor at all, nor is any *Optics, L. iii. in fin.