sheet of "Monthly Extracts from the Correspondence of the British and Foreign Bible Society," for the month of August: it is as follows: "The copies of the Syriac Gospels, forwarded to the Syrian Christians in Travancore, have proved a most acceptable gift to them. Three copies were presented to the Bishop, Mar Dyonisius, and the clergy with him at Kotyam; and three were given to the British Resident, Colonel Munro, who has established at Kotyam a college for the education of the Catanars, The type and character of these Gospels are considered by them to be executed in the BEST manner; and the Bishop and Catanars (or clergy) expressed the most earnest desire to receive the whole of the Old and New Testament printed in the same manner. They have very few copies of the Scriptures among them." We trust that there will now remain no hesitation in gladdening this ancient church by the completion, and diffusion amongst them, of the work which they seem so highly to estimate. Since the publication of these volumes, our attention has been particularly called by a respected friend and correspondent, to a point in Dr. Buchanan's conduct at college to which it may be proper for us to advert; namely, his zealous attention to the religious improvement of the junior fellow-students with whom he associated. It is remarked by his biographer, speaking of the earlier period of his residence at Cambridge, that "From the time of his coming to college, according to the information of a contemporary friend, Mr. Buchanan was exceedingly regular and studious, keeping but little company, for the sake, he supposes, of economy both as to expense and time. His situation, too, was at first peculiarly unpleasant from finding scarcely a single companion whose sentiments and habits were congenial with his own. His indispo sition to general visits eveu rendered him the subject of much animadversion." Vol. I. pp. 54, 55. Dr. Buchanan's own words seem to confirm this testimony of his friend; but they indicate also, that after a time he began to doubt whether he might not have carried the system of seclusion from society farther than was proper or desir able; for when he had been nearly two years at the university, we find him thus expressing himself: "I would gladly know whether it is the will of God that I should associate with my fellow-students more than I do; whether I ought to separate myself, or mingle with them, endeavour to obtain some weight among them, and correct their manners, and seek opportunities of speaking for God.” “If I were 'wise as a serpent,' I might pos sibly entwine some of them in the net of the Gospel. Of late this subject has been much on my mind, and I have been earnest in prayer that I may be made useful to some of them. At my rooms they have always acted with the strictest decorum; scarcely an improper word has been spoken, and I know not but I might have been a restraint upon them at their own. My principal reason for resisting their frequent invitations is a fear lest I should lose time in idle conversation, or be unawares led into undue compliances." Vol. I. pp.75, 76. In conformity probably with this find him, in the succeeding year, new apprehension of his duty, we meeting and conversing frequently with a fellow-student, who gives this account of one of their inter views "On that occasion Dr. Buchanan greatly surprized me by strongly condemning the vanity of the pursuits of ambition, in which I was then hotly engaged. I defended my side, in which self was so deeply concerned, with much warmth and positiveness; but when I was left alone, I could not altogether shake off the impression which his serious, solemn, and scriptural mode of argumentation had left upon my mind." Vol. I. p. 106. Our correspondent, mentioned above, has thrown some new and honourable light on this period of Dr. Buchanan's history. "It is true," he observes, "that Dr. B. did not mix much in general society, while at college; but during his last year (when I went thither), he laid himself out a good deal to encourage younger men in keeping the right way. He called on me immediately on my arrival as a fresh-man, and watched over me while he continued at college with all the affection of a brother. There were several of us who used to look up to him as a Mentor; and he contrived to allot to us a portion of his time, either calling upon us at breakfast, or taking us with him when he walked out for exercise. In this way, his own time was not wasted; and he gained many opportunities of conveying to us both exhortation and encouragement." To this interesting statement our friend subjoins a remark in which we very cordially concur, and indeed partly for the sake of which we have entered into this detail: "What extensive good," he observes, "might be effected, if religious young men, while at college, and especially in their last year, would imitate in this respect the example of Buchanan. The youth ful mind is then in a state to be influenced by the attentions of a superior; and although Dr. Buchanan might have had more weight with his fellow-students, on account of his being a few years older than under graduates generally are, yet it may be presumed that the welltimed kindness and counsel of a religious senior, especially of one who has distinguished himself by his academical attainments, will seldom fail to produce a favourable impression on his younger associates." There is only one more extract, which, before we close our review, we think it right to add to the many we have already inserted from this very valuable publication. It is taken from a masterly and faithful delineation of Dr. Buchanan's character, which Mr. Pearson has given us at the close of his work. But for its length, we should have been glad to transcribe into our pages the whole of this sketch. tianity may, perhaps, attribute his ear "Those who know little of real Chris nestness and activity in religion, as they would that of the great Apostle himself, to enthusiasm, zeal for proselytism, or the love of fame. But the whole tenor of this narrative sufficiently proves, that no corrupt, weak, or worldly motives swayed his mind." Vol.II. pp. 371, 372. "The love of Christ and of the souls instrument of imparting to others that of men, and a fervent desire to be the unspeakable blessing which he had himself received, were in reality the springs both of his public and private exertions. These were the principles by which he was animated, and which supported him with equanimity and patience amidst labour and reproach, infirmity and sorrow, and even rendered him joyful in tribulation. Buchanan possessed a spirit of lively "Combined with these motives, Dr. and vigorous faith, which substantiated things not seen,' and led him to think and act under a strong impression of their truth and reality. He was therefore eminently a practical man. Though inclined by natural taste, and the habits of a learned and scientific education, to indulge in speculative pursuits and pleasures, the strength of his faith, and spiritual and eternal concern, rescued the ardour of his love towards objects of him from their fascination, and taught him to account all knowledge, and all occupation, vain and unimportant, compared with that which tended to render himself and others wise unto salvation.' Hence, from the period at which the religious necessities of his own countrymen in India, and the moral state of impressed his mind, the life of Dr. Buits benighted native inhabitants, first chanan exhibits a continued series of strenuous, self-denying, and disinte rested efforts to supply the deficiencies, and to ameliorate the condition which he lamented." Ibid. pp. 372, 373. "Nor did he labour in vain." "Mil lions yet unborn will doubtless have "Of the defects which were incident to his own character no one could be more humbly sensible than Dr. Bucha 'nan, more watchful for the discovery of unknown faults, more anxious for their correction, or more diligent in endeavouring, under the influence of the Divine grace, to perfect holiness in the fear of God.' But after all the deductions which may be due to the paramount claims of truth, or urged by the severer demands of a less friendly scrutiny, there remains to the subject of these Memoirs a residue of solid, and undoubted, and indefeasible excellence, of which the conviction and estimate will, it is firmly believed, be gradually and certainly augmenting. He may be slighted by some, and misrepresented or misunderstood by others; but among those who can justly appreciate distinguished worth, genuine piety, and enlarged and active philanthrophy, there can surely be but one opinion-that Dr. Buchanan was a burning and a shining light,' and a signal blessing to the nations of the East. We may, indeed, safely leave his enlogy to be pronounced by future generations in Great Britain and Hindostan, who will probably vie with each other in doing honour to his memory, and unite in venerating him as one of the best benefactors of mankind; as having laboured to impart to those who in a spiritual sense are 'poor indeed,' a treasure Transcending in its worth The gems of India.' "But if it were possible that men should forget or be insensible to their obligations to this excellent person, he is now far removed from human censure and applause: his judgment and his work are with God; his record is on high, and his witness in heaven. He has entered into peace,' and will doubt less stand in no unenvied lot at the end of the days;' when they that are wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever." Vol. II. pp. 391, 392. After the time and attention we have bestowed on these volumes, and the copious extracts from them with which we have adorned our miscellany, it may seem scarcely necessary that we should advert specifically to the manner in which the biographer of Dr. Buchanan has performed the task assigned to him; and yet we feel so strongly his claims on our gratitude, that we cannot pass it over in silence. Of Mr. Pearson it is no more than a just commendation to say, that he has produced a work worthy of the distinguished subject of his narrative, and has executed his labour, which was one of considerable difficulty as well as delicacy, in a way which renders that narrative one of the most interesting and instructive pieces of biography in the English language. We certainly attach great value to these volumes. The facts and discussions are so skilfully interwoven with each other as to form one uniform texture; and, what has occurred to us as rather remarkable in a work of so much striking incident, the observations and arguments introduced by the author never appear tedious; a result which could only arise from their own intrinsic me rit. For classical purity and perspicuity of language; for a luminous statement of facts; for good sense, good taste, good writing,— and what is more than all, a wakeful spirit of piety, and a constant recurrence to the truths and precepts of Christianity, without any mixture of those party feelings, or of that party phraseology, or of those coarsenesses and inelegancies of style, which are sometimes injuriously associated with religious biography, - we recollect no recent work that has better deserved the popularity which we rejoice tofind that these volumes have already attained. A Series of Discourses, on the Christian Revelation, viewed in Connection with the Modern Astronomy. By THOMAS CHALMERS, D.D., Minister of the Tron Church, Glasgow. Glasgow: J. Smith and Son. London: Longman, &c. 1817. 8vo. pp. 275. THE discourses which we are about to review are so generally known and admired that we might perhaps be justified in leaving them to the public judgment, which has been already awarded in their favour. The name, however, and former publications of Dr. Chalmers would demand our attention even were they attached to a volume of far less intrinsic value than that which we are now about to notice. In conducting our remarks, we shall first give an outline of Dr. Chalmers's argument, and then proceed to a few observations upon the manner in which he has conducted it. The first discourse, which is intended as preparatory to the rest, contains a rapid and vigorous sketch of the wonders disclosed by modern astronomy. The text, or rather motto, is from Psalm viii. 3, 4. When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and stars which thou hast ordained; what is man, that thou art mindful of him; and the son of man, that thou visitest him? Dr. Chalmers views the Psalmist as leaving in imagination this diminutive world, and urging his way through infinite space, where, instead of dark unpeopled solitudes, he beholds an immeasurable scene, crouded with splendour, and filled with the energy of the Divine presence. Creation rises in its immensity before him; and earth and all its concerns seem to shrink into nothing, amidst contemplations so vast and overpowering. Passing upward from the grandeur and variety of the material creation, to the great Architect of all, he exclaims, "What is man, that thou art mindful of him; and the son of man, that thou visitest him?" Now if this humbling reflection be thus forced upon the mind by the mere spectacle of the immense concave of the heavens, reposing upon the circular boundary of the world, and lighted up with innumerable stars, moving with solemn regularity along its surface; how much more forcibly does it recur when the same magnificent and mysterious scene is beheld by the light of the modern astronomy? Aided by the exalted conceptions and discoveries of science, each of those twinkling orbs becomes a sphere of great and overwhelming magnitude. The sun, which we behold as little more than a bright spot in the heavens, assumes dimensions many thousand times larger than the terrestrial globe which we so proudly inhabit, and to which we are apt to attach the idea of its being the only spot in creation worthy of the Divine regard and superintendance. But the mere magnitude of the stars and planets is not the only circumstance which seems to coun tenance the humbling conclusion of the Psalmist. These worlds, so important even as masses of matter, may possibly be far more important by being, like our own, the residence of rational and immortal beings. Here the modern astronomy presses,with almost irresistible conviction, her grand discoveries: she points out the striking analogy between our own globe and the planetary worlds. They, like us, have their revolutions round our sun, and round their own axis: they, therefore, like us, have their vicissitudes of day and night, summer and winter. To them, as well as to us, the Almighty has given the lights in the firmament of heaven: to all of them he has appointed the sun to rule the day, and to many of them moons to rule the night; for them he has made the stars also. And shall we suppose the analogy stops here? Shall we not pursue it further? Shall we conclude, asks our author, that silence and solitude reign throughout the mighty empire of nature; that the greater part of the creation is an empty parade; and that not one worshipper of the Divinity is to be found amidst the interminable extent of the starry worlds? Dr. Chalmers considers it "a delightful confirmation" of the argument, that in proportion as our instruments are improved, we discover new resemblances between our own world and the planetary system. Not only is it ascertained that those distant orbs have their day and night, their change of seasons, and some of them moons to temper their darkness when turned from the sun; but "We can see of one, that its surface rises into inequalities, that it swells into mountains and stretches into valleys; of another, that it is surrounded by an atmosphere which may support the respiration of animals; of a third, that clouds are formed and suspended over it, which may minister to it all the bloom and luxuriance of vegetation; and of a fourth, that a white colour spreads over its northern regions, as its winter advances, and that on the approach of summer this whiteness is dissipatedgiving room to suppose, that the element of water abounds in it, that it rises by evaporation into its atmosphere, that it freezes upon the application of cold, that it is precipitated in the form of snow, that it covers the ground with a fleecy mantle, which melts away from the heat of a more vertical sun; and that other worlds bear resemblance to our own, in the same yearly round of beneficent and interesting changes." pp. 30, 31. Our author does not, however, stop even here, but proceeds to guess with plausibility what we cannot anticipate with confidence," that the day may arrive when our instruments of observation shall be so powerful as to resolve by the evidence of our senses what is at present but a probable speculation. He imagines that we may, at some future time, be able to observe summer throwing its green mantle over those mighty tracts, and again view them left naked and deprived of verdure after the flush of vegetation has subsided. He conceives, that in the progress of years we may have it in our power to trace the hand of cultivation spreading a new aspect over some portion of a planetary surface; that we may actually behold a city, the metropolis of some great empire, expanding into a visible spot, by the powers of some future telescope, and even be enabled to construct a map of some distant world in all its minute and topical varieties. But still, how insignificant are five or six planetary worlds which are all we have hitherto considered, compared with the multitude of other lights which fill the concave of heaven! These planets are all attached to the sun: but what are those more distant bodies that disown his power, and seem fixed immovably in the heavens? Are they intended only to shed a feeble and scarcely noticed light upon our little corner of the universe; or are they designed for a purpose worthier of themselves, to light other worlds, and give animation to other systems? The first thing, Dr. Chalmers remarks, which strikes a scientific observer, is their immense distance; a distance so great that if the whole space occupied by the planetary system, and which exceeds by many millions of times the magnitude of our world, were lighted up into one vast globe of fire, it would appear only a small lucid point from the nearest of them. If the earth which moves with more than the inconceivable velocity of a million and a half miles a-day, were to be hurried from its orbit, and proceed with the same rapid flight in the immense regions of space, it would not arrive at the termination of its journey, after occupying all the time which has elapsed since the creation of the world. Caleulations like these cannot be grasped by the human mind. We may demonstrate their truth, as Dr. Chalmers observes, by the powers of a rigid and infallible geometry: "But no human fancy can summon up a lively or an adequate conception, can roam in its ideal flight over this immeasurable largeness, can take in this mighty space in all its grandeur, and in all its immensity, can sweep the outer boundaries of such a creation, or lift itself up to the majesty of that great and invisible Arm, on which all is sus pended." p. 36. Our author next proceeds to exhibit the usual arguments, to prove that the fixed stars are luminous |