the Christian civilization of India; that progress may be slow, as compared with the wishes and hopes of those who love the truth; it may be in some points difficult to be ascertained; in others, partial and incomplete; but I have a deep and entire persuasion that it is going forward, and that, if we could make an estimate of the aggregate of good, it would be found that it increases in a steady progression."

The labors of the Baptist missionaries in Birmah, have been crowned with the most ample success. The New Testament in Birmese is in circulation, and a translation of the Old will be completed by Mr. Judson in eight or ten months. Several hundred natives have been baptized into the faith of Christ. Three printing presses are now in operation.

EGYPT.

MOHAMMED ALY, the sovereign of Egypt, is of Turkish origin, and was born at Cavala, in Macedonia, in 1769. By his boldness, sagacity, and courage, he has raised himself from an humble station to that of a monarch. He has ruled Egypt, since 1806, on European principles. From his youth Mohammed exhibited an extraordinary penetration, uncommon dexterity in all bodily exercises, and a fiery ambition. The Turkish governor at Cavala gave this poor young orphan a common education, and then an office and a rich wife. Reading and writing he learned after he became a pacha. A merchant of Marseilles, named Lion, who lived in Cavala, and was his patron, inspired him with an inclination towards the French, and with religious tolerance. His first campaign was in Egypt, in 1800, against the French. He established his reputation as a soldier in the long contest of the pachas with the Mamelukes, after the French had abandoned Egypt in 1802. He was confirmed as governor of Egypt, in 1806.

Mohammed has two sons,-Ibrahim, Ismael, two married daughters, and a grandson, whom he is educating with great care. The following statements respecting the enlightened character and reforms of Mohammed, are extracted from an address of Sir Alexander Johnstone to the Asiatic Society.

"The Pacha of Egypt, one of our Honorary Members, a chief of a clear and vigorous mind, observing the advantage which European states have derived from a similar policy, has publicly encouraged the introduction into Egypt of all those arts and sciences, which are calculated to improve the understanding of the people, to mitigate the effects of their religious feelings, and to secure the stability of the local government.

"He has assimilated his army and his navy to those of Europe, and subjected them to European discipline: he has formed corps of artillery and engineers on European principles: he has attached regular bands of military music to each of his regiments, with European instructors, who teach the Arab musicians, according to the European notes of music, to play on European instruments the marches and airs of England, France, and Germany a short distance from Caïro he has established a permanent military hospital, and placed it under European surgeons, and the same rules as prevail in the best regulated hospitals in Europe; and he has formed a

school of medicine and anatomy, in which not only botany, mineralogy, and chemistry are taught, but human bodies are publicly dissected by students who profess the Mohammedan religion, and who are publicly rewarded in the heart of a great Mohammedan population, according to the skill and the knowledge which they display in their different dissections. At Alexandria he has established a naval school, in which the Mohammedan students are instructed in the several branches of geometry, trigo. nometry, mechanics, and astromony, connected with naval architecture and the science of navigation; and a dock-yard under the control and superintendence of an European naval architect, distinguished for his talents and his skill, in which, besides frigates and other vessels of smaller dimensions, four ships of the line, three carrying 110 guns upon two decks, and one of 130 guns, have been recently built: he has opened the Old Port, which was formerly shut against them, to all Christian vessels. He has encouraged the formation of regular insurance offices; and authorized Christian merchants to acquire a property in lands, houses, and gardens. He has employed an English civil-engineer of great eminence on a very liberal salary, to improve all the canals in the country and the course of the Nile : he is about to construct carriage-roads from Alexandria to Caïro, and from Alexandria to Rosetta and Damietta; and M. Abro, the cousin of his minister, is about to establish on them public stage coaches, built on a model of one sent to him by a coach-maker from this country: he has introduced steam-boats, which navigate the Nile; and steam-engines, which are used for cleansing and deepening the bed of that river, and for various other public works. He has patronized the employment, by Mr. Briggs, of two Englishmen, taken for the purpose from this country, in boring for water in different parts of the Desert; and he has discovered, through their operations, some very fine water in the Desert between Caïro and Suez.* has encouraged the growth of cotton, indigo, and opium; and the former of these productions is now a great article of trade between Egypt and England, France and Germany. He has established schools in the country. for the instruction of all orders of his people, in reading, writing, and arithmetic he has sent, at great expense to himself, young men, both of the higher and lower ranks of society, to England and France, for the purpose of acquiring useful knowledge; those of the higher rank, in those branches of science and literature which are connected with their service in the army, the navy, and the higher departments of government; those of the lower, in those mechanical arts which are more immediately connected with their employment as artisans and manufacturers. He has constituted a public assembly at Caïro, consisting of a considerable number of well-informed persons, who hold regular sittings for forty days in each year, and publicly discuss, for his information, the interest and wants of his different provinces. He patronizes the publication of a weekly newspaper in Arabic and Turkish, for the instruction of his people. And, finally, he protects all Christian merchants, who are settled in his country; not only in time of peace, but also in time of war and afforded the European merchants, who were settled at Alexandria and at Caïro, a memora

He

* The inhabitants of Africa and Arabia are indebted for all the benefits which they may ultimately derive from a knowledge of this art, to the philanthropy and liberality of our countryman, Mr. Briggs; who was the first European who ever thought of applying this art to the discovery of water in the Deserts of Africa; and who, at his own private expense, sent over from England to Egypt the two Englishmen who have succeeded, by their skill, in discovering water in the part of the Desert which has been mentioned. London Missionary Register, January, 1833.

ble instance of his determination to adhere under all circumstances to this policy, by informing them, as soon as he had received intelligence of the battle of Navarino, that their persons and their property should continue as secure as if no such event had occurred.

"I have dwelt at some length on this subject, because I have felt it to be my duty, in consequence of the information which I have received as Chairman of the Committee of Correspondence, to give publicity in this country to those measures, by which one of the most distinguished of our Honorary Members has restored to Egypt, in their highest state of perfection, all the Arts and Sciences of Europe-has emulated, as a Patron of Knowledge, the conduct of the most enlightened of the Caliphs of Bagdad --and has afforded, as a Mohammedan, a bright example, for their imitation, to all the Mohammedan Sovereigns in Europe, Africa, and Asia."

WEST INDIES.

THESE islands lie between North and South America, stretching from the coast of Florida, in the twenty-eighth degree, to the shores of Venezuela, in the tenth degree of north latitude. They are divided by geographers into the Bahamas, composed of 14 clusters of islands, and 700 keys; the Great Antilles, composing the four largest islands of the group, Cuba, Hayti, Porto Rico, and Jamaica; the Lesser Antilles, stretching from Trinidad, in a westerly direction, along the northern coast of South America, and the Caribbee islands, stretching, like a great bow, from Tobago to Porto Rico, and subdivided into the three groups known under the name of the Virgin islands, the Leeward islands, and the Windward islands. All the islands with the exception of some of the Bahamas, lie within the torrid zone. The name India was given them by Columbus, who first discovered them, under the notion that they formed part of India, which was the object of his search. When the mistake was discovered, they retained the name, with the prefix West, to denote their geographical position. The islands were inhabited at the time of discovery by two distinct races of natives, the Caribs, inhabiting the Windward islands, and the Arrowauks, inhabiting Hayti, Cuba, Jamaica, Porto Rico, and the Bahamas. The former were warlike and fierce, the latter mild and peaceful, and much more advanced in civilization.

All the islands, with the exception of Hayti, are in the possession of the European powers. 1. Spanish West Indies, the sole remnants of the splendid colonial possessions of Spain in the new world, are Cuba, Porto Rico, with several dependences and three small islands of the Virgin group. 2. The French possess only Guadaloupe, Martinique, and the small islands of Mariegalante and Deseada. 3. The Danes possess only the small islands of St. Thomas, St. Croix, or Santa Cruz, and St. John belonging to the Virgin islands. 4. The Swedes have in their possession only one colony, the small but fertile island of St. Bartholomew. 5. To the Dutch belong the islands of Curacoa, St. Eustatius, Saba, and a part of St. Martin, with the smaller islands of Aruba, Aves and Banaire.

The following statements will furnish an interesting view of the British West Indies.

Total, 77,460 whites; 113,890 free colored; 692,700 slaves; £8,603,000 value of exports to Great Britain; £4,035,000 value of imports from Great Britain; 263,700 tons of shipping employed; £131,052,424 entire value of the colonies. In the above table, the sum at which the entire value of Tortola is reckoned, includes the other Virgin islands, as well as Tortola. The amount of sugar raised in all the colonies last year, was 3,816,000 cwt.; of coffee, 19,769,500 lbs. ; of rum, 7,808,000 gallons. Demerara, including Essequibo, Berbice, Tobago and St. Lucia, are ceded colonies, immediately dependent on the crown of Great Britain; the others are British colonies.

ARMY OF FRANCE.

ON the 31st December, 1830, the effective force of the French Army was 272,839 men, and the appropriations for the War Department amounted to 202,613,402 francs, or about forty million dollars. For 1833, the effective force remains fixed at 400,000 men, and the budget voted, exceeds 300,000,000 francs. To these may be added 80,000 men of the class of 1832, the levy of whom is authorized, but 70,000 of whom are not to be called into service until actually wanted. The reserve amounts to 200,366, and will, in 1838, amount to 300,000, to which, if the effective force, which will then comprehend 310,000, be added, together with the mobilized National Guards, in number 273,000, the total force, available in case of war, will, in 1838, be 883,000.

NOTICES OF NEW PUBLICATIONS.

Scripture Natural History; containing | sionaries, who were once members of the a descriptive account of the quadrupeds, birds, Society, is sixty. The whole number of fishes, insects, reptiles, serpents, plants, trees, members, is 827. The association holds freminerals, gems, and precious stones, mentioned in the Bible. By WILLIAM CARPENTER. First quent public meetings, at which a dissertaAmerican, from the latest London edition, with tion is read by some member previously apimprovements, by Rev. GORHAM D. ABBOTT, il-pointed, and extracts from a correspondence lustrated by numerous engravings, to which are which is maintained with similar societies, added sketches of Palestine, or the Holy Land. and with foreign and domestic missionaries, Boston: Lincoln, Edmands & Co., 1833. pp. 408 are also read. The most valuable dissertaThis is a very interesting volume to gen- tions are published. Committees on Coloeral readers of the Bible. Mr. Abbott has nization, Home Missions, Foreign Missions, divested the work of its learned references, and Seamen's societies exist, which devote and adapted it to the comprehension of all. particular attention to those subjects. The Mr. Carpenter compiled the work from the essay of Dr. Woods is very brief, but pertiNatural History of the Rev. Dr. Harris, of nent and striking. Short notices of the life Dorchester, Ms., and most ungenerously reof each of the foreign missionaries, extracts fused to acknowledge his obligations to the from correspondence, seven dissertations, list author, while he abused him for his want of of the members of the society, with their orthodoxy. Mr. Abbott has faithfully ex-places of residence, &c. are given. posed the piracy. We recommend the volume as one of great value.

Memoirs of American Missionaries, for

We think the plan of issuing this publication judicious. It will contribute to give of the public, a more permanent character. the society, in the eyes of its members and It is considered a praiseworthy undertaking, to publish the history of a town-how much more the history of an institution formed for the benefit of the whole human race, and whose influence has been already felt to the ends of the earth. It also serves as a record for a great number of facts. If there are mistakes in the volume, they can be much more easily corrected, than they could be if confined to the archives of a

merly connected with the Society of Inquiry respecting Missions, in the Andover Theological Seminary, embracing a history of the Society, with an introductory essay, by LEONARD WOODS, D. D. Boston: Peirce & Parker, 1833. pp. 367. The Society of Inquiry was formed in 1811, and seems to have been an expansion of a plan adopted a few years previously in Williams college. It has been greatly useful in promoting a spirit of investigation into the condition of the unevangelized portions of the world. The number of foreign mis-society.