as, for instance, the Baptists, Episcopalians, Quakers, &c. Connecticut.-Irish Superstition. The following paragraph is copied from the American Episcopal Watchman, November 1827, a Journal published at Hartford in Connecticut." There are about 400 Irishmen at work on the canal at Enfield Falls. Most of them are Romanists. A few days since, one of them died. He had no priest by him to receive his confession, and give him absolution before his death. Immediately after his decease, three or four of his countrymen engaged an inhabi tant of Suffield to convey the body to Albany, New York, where there was a Romish priest. These friends accompanied the corpse in the same waggon. On their arrival in Albany, for the sum of THIRTY DOLLARS (£6 15s. sterling), the priest gave ABSOLUTION to the soul and body of the dead man, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, the Virgin Mary, the Holy Angels, and the spirits of departed Saints!!! So ended this scene of spiritual wickedness in high places; and the surviving parties returned, satisfied that the soul of their friend was safe and happy." Friend of Israel Society.-A School for Hebrew children has been established at Pinne, by the Friends of Israel, under the patronage of Mr. Von Rappard. Committee of Ladies: Madame Von Rappard, Miss Messenbach, Miss Somersfeldt. Master: Mr. Bode. Mistress: Miss Handke. Mr. Von Rappard assembled the Rabbi and elders of the synagogue to read to them a translation of the "Address of the Friends of Israel at Pinne," containing a suitable exhortation on the necessity of education, enlarging on the regulations of the Schools, and suggesting Total....£502,072 15 8 means for improving the local habits of the people. The Address was well received, and followed by an attendance of twenty-two pupils, with which the school opened on the 16th of October, 1827. The girls, sewing school has been opened in June last; but they are now united, and, with the blessing of God, will daily increase. We have received the names of twentytwo children now in the school, which our limits compel us to omit. Subscriptions to this School will be received by Miss Nevill, Verville, Clontarf. Report of the Friends of Israel for January, 1828.-Miss Nevill having written a respectful letter to His Majesty, the King of Prussia, soliciting his royal sanction to the Hebrew Church at Berlin, established by the Friends of Israel, and requesting his patronage to their schools, His Majesty was pleased to return the following gracious answer: Translation from the German, "I have received both your letters, the one dated the 20th August, the other the 20th October, and wish to express my approbation of the truly Christian sentiments which are therein contained. The voluntary sacrifices that you are making in my States, and by which you prove your zeal for the good cause, fill me with gratitude, and I shall make every effort in my power to meet your praise-worthy intentions. (Signed) "FREDERICK WILLIAM. "Berlin, Dec. 18, 1827. The King's letter was accompanied by another from Lieutenant-General Witzleben, Aid-de-Camp and Secretary to His Majesty, of which the following is a literal translation; "MADAM, I have received your honoured letter of the 27th August safely, and have handed the application to His Majesty, my Lord the King, and herein send you the answer; you will see therefrom that the King takes a great interest in the holy works which the servants of God wish to promote by their devoted industry. He has almost finished giving the necessary orders for the establishment of Divine Service for the Jews, and will willingly give his sanction to the nomination of a clergyman possessed of the necessary qualifications for the proposed end; with respect to Mr. Ball, the Society will not fail to inform you how far they find him capable of instructing Jews in Christianity. I recommend you to the protection of the Most High and beg you to accept of my respectful esteem. (Signed) "WITZLEBEN. "Berlin, Dec. 18, 1827. "To Miss M. Neville, &c." Copy of a Letter to Miss Neville from Rev. M. S. Alexander, dated Posen, Dec. 3d, 1827: DEAR MADAM.-" You will be glad to hear we arrived safe at Posen on Saturday last, we remained only eight days at Berlin. I saw much of Mr. Focke, &c. and was present when your box arrived and was opened. The gowns which it contained for the chil dren at Pinne School were thought by the friends there too handsome for the poor children, and wished they were inferior. You will, no doubt hear, that His Majesty, the King of Prussia has granted the opening of a regular service to the proselytes. You will be pleased to hear we passed a day at Pinne with Count Herm. Von Rappard. They are a most delightful and excellent Christian family. pened to be Saturday and the children It hapwere not in the school; but I have seen the school-room, and the teacher, and every thing seems calculated to promote the best interests of the children. Mr. R. told me they have 24 who come regularly, and sometimes more. Mrs. Rappard is a most excellent and active lady; they feel thankful for what you have done for them but it falls far short of their wants. The place itself is very poor, and nois to be expected at present. Mr. R. gives a room in his Palace, which he will be shortly obliged to give up. Indeed my dear Madam, I think in this place you can be most useful, and establish yourself an everlating memorial; you cannot have to do with a more excellent and worthy people. The Jews are rather numerous in this place. Mrs. Rappard said she will write to you soon. I must conclude for want of time. "I remain with Christian regard, "Yours truly, " M. S. ALEXANDER." A most interesting letter was received by Miss N. from the Rev. W. B. Lewis, from Ancona, dated December 22d, 1827, which circumstances do not render it prudent to publish. It is sufficient to say, that "the friends of Israel" have pointed out the means of relieving Mr. Lewis from the difficulty he is under, and preserving the lives of many individuals who are in danger of death by their profession of the faith of Christ. Jews' Society. New Editions of Scripture. A new 12mo. edition of the Hebrew Scriptures, under the superintendance of the Committee of the Jews' Society, has been in progress during the last year; and more than one half has already been published in apslrthe: whole of the Old Testament will be completed in the course of the summer. With respect to the New Testament, they have felt it their duty to ascertain whether any or what alterations in the present translation may be necessary, before they incur the expense of a new edition after a long investigation of this most important subject, they have resolved to employ Dr. Neumann, of Breslaw, a learned Jewish Convert, in making a complete revision of the whole; which revision will be again submitted for the approval of eminent Hebrew Scholars in this country. The Committee have also undertaken the publication of an edition of the Old Testament in the Judæo-Polish Dialect, from a translation by the Rev. A. M'Caul: this work is now going on, and appears likely to be of essential benefit. The Committee thought it advisable to print the Book of Genesis first; and to send a large supply for circulation among the Jews in Poland, in order that they might give the more learned indidividuals of that nation an opportunity of detecting any errors that might occur in the translation, and likewise be enabled to ascertain how far it was intelligible and acceptable to ordinary Jewish readers: the result has been such as fully to justify the undertaking; and the Committee are, therefore, proceeding without delay to the completion of the work. Hibernian Bible Siciety,-Octavo Irish Bible.-It is with the greatest pleasure to ourselves, and thankfulness to the Giver of all good things, that we announce the completion of the 8vo. edition of the Bible in the Irish language and character; the last sheet is printed off, and it only waits for a table of errata to be presented to the public. The bistory of the version now published, and of this edition, will be found in a paper given in this number. We congratulate the friends of religion and of peace in this country, that now, after the lapse of upwards of a century since the first edition of the Bible in the Irish language and character issued from the press, the most ignorant of its inhabitants have a full opportunity of acquiring that knowledge which maketh wise unto salvation; and that its darkest recesses shall now be illuminated, by the full splendour of that sun of righteousness, which ariseth with healing on its wings. Oh! may the Lord prosper this his holy word, according to his gracious promise, in the thing whereunto he sendeth it. May it prove light to our moral darkness, health to our political disease, and life to the perishing soul of many and many an individual. May the power of the Lord prevent or overrule every attempt of the prince of darkness to invalidate its efficacy; and may all combine in cir culating this sacred book, the spreading of which, like oil upon the ruffled waters, is calculated to allay the effects of the rudest storm; and to produce, and to ensure the continuance of, domestic, social, and national peace. Black Rock Bible Association.-A meeting was held on Tuesday, 1st January, 1828, called by the Archdeacon of Kildare, who took the chair, in the school house near Monkstown Church, for the purpose of extending the advantages of the Black Rock Ladies' Bible Association, by an union of the parishes of Monkstown, Stillorgan, and Booterstown, as the future sphere of operation. (The intention to form this union was alluded to in a former Number of THE EXAMINER.) The Association thus formed of the united parishes, is denominated "Rathdown Ladies' Bible Association," giving up the former name. A Committee has been formed for each parish, to meet once a month; a quarterly meeting of the Union is to take place, beside the annual general meeting. Rev. B. Mahaffy, Rev. M. Green, Rev. A. Sillery, are to act as assisting secretaries to the respective parishes, and the last named gentleman is to act as general secretary to the Union for the ensuing year. Southampton.-Committee for the improvement of the Gypsies.-A Committee has been formed at Southampton for the general improvement of the condition of the Gypsies. The Committee state, that a deep feeling of interest has been excited in the minds of some benevolent persons in that town, in behalf of this longneglected, ignorant, and immoral people; they have therefore issued the following queries, to which they request the replies of persons conversant with the subject: 1. What has been done, within your knowledge, for the moral, religious, and general improvement of the Gypsies in this country, and with what success? 2. In the case of a failure in any plan for their benefit, can you account for the same? 3. What do you recommend, from your own experience, as the best means to adopt for the religious instruction and general improvement of the Gypsies, bearing in mind their wandering habits? 4. Could you refer the Committee to any persons who may have it in their power to afford them information on the subject in question ? LITERARY AND PHILOSOPHICAL INTELLIGENCE. A Prospectus has been issued for publishing an uniform edition of the Works of the English and Scottish Reformers, edited by the Rev. T. Russel. First, in order of time, will be the works of Tyndal, Firth, and Barnes, which will make between three and four volumes. Then will follow the works of Cranmer, Latimer, Hooper, Ridley, and Bradford ; which it is expected will be comprised in five or six volumes. A selection will be made from the writings of Nicholas, Ridley, Knox, Coverdale, Bale, Ponet, Becon, Joye, Sampson, Lever, and other early Protestant divines, making four or five additional volumes: two more may be allowed for extracts from Fox's Acts and Monuments of the Memorials of Bilney, Lambert, Hamilton, Rogers, Borthwick, Wishart, Philpot, and their fellow-sufferers in the reigns of Henry and Mary. The work is expected to extend to about sixteen volumes. Oxford.-The late Colonel Boden has endowed, by bequest, a professorship of the Sanscrit language, in the University of Oxford; being of opinion," says the testator, "that a more general and critical knowledge of that language will be a means of enabling my countrymen to proceed in the conversion of the natives of India to the Christian religion, by disseminating a knowledge of the sacred Scriptures amongst them more effectually than all other means whatsoever." The amount of the legacy is computed at between 20 and 30,000l. Africa. The following extract of a letter from one of the American settlers in Liberia, on the Western Coast of Africa, appears in the African Repository published at Washington in Sept. 1827. If the account may be depended on, this discovery may lead to important results, in both a religious and commercial point of view. Caldwell, May 11, 1827.-" An excursion of one of our people into the interior, to the distance of about 140 miles, has led to a discovery of the populousness and comparative civilization of this district of Africa, never till within a few months even conjectured by myself. The same individual is now absent on a second journey. The particulars of both, I hope to be able to present to the Board by the next conveyance. In the mean time it may not be without interest to observe, that we are situated within fifty leagues of a country in which a highly improved agriculture prevails-where the horse is a common domestic animal-where extensive tracts of land are cleared and enclosed-where every article absolutely necessary to comfortable life is produced by the soil, or manufactured by the skill and industry of the inhabitants-where Arabic is used as written language in the ordinary commerce of life-where regular and abundant markets and fairs are kept; and where a degree of intelligence and practical refinement, distinguish the inhabitants, little compatible with the personal qualities attached, in the current notions of the age, to the people of Guinea." VIEW OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS. The event we had apprehended has taken place; the successors of Mr. Canning having yielded to circumstances, a Ministry more accordant to the principles of Lord Liverpool's administration bas been formed. The Duke of Wellington is Premier, and Mr. Peel, in full accordance with the wishes of the country, is raised to the head of the Home Department. Lord Eldon and Lord Wel lesley, do not seem to have places in the new arrangement. An opinion on the subject is premature; we hope, that as it seems to have the confidence of both King and people, so the conduct of the new Ministers will be governed by a single anxiety to benefit the country. Nothing certain has transpired relative to our relations with the Porte. Don Miguel has been well received in England, |