ites; we would only inquire whether those reproaches are not équally applicable to mankind collectively, even to us christians, who surely have at least as much knowledge of the Almighty and his works as they could boast of.

When we view them settled in the promised land, their conduct will appear less extraordinary than it did during their journey through the wilderness; and if the acknowledged hardness of their hearts in that "day of temptation" be thought to admit of some slight palliation, we shall have still less difficulty to encounter with respect to their subsequent proceedings. The promise relative to their final settlement in Canaan had been fulfilled, and they had thus incurred a new debt of gratitude and love towards their Heavenly Ruler; but, on the other hand, the protecting care and watchful interference of Divine Providence in their behalf, were neither so continually nor so conspicuously displayed as they had been in times of greater peril and necessity. The fertility of the spot in which they were placed had rendered it unnecessary that water should any longer be drawn from the stony rock to satisfy their thirst, or that the food of angels should be given them for meat. The cloud and the pillar of fire had also disappeared. Their visible rulers were no longer favoured with such supernatural powers as those by which Moses was distinguished; for the law had been given, and the claims of God to their worship and obedience so fully established, that the conduct of their affairs might now safely be entrusted to persons only partially and occasionally elevated above their fellows by extraordinary gifts. Almost all those who were released from bondage in Egypt, perished on their way to the promised land; and as one generation succeeded to another, the miracles performed in the wilderness became matter of historical record or of oral tradition, and thus the evidence of testimony took place of the evidence of the senses. But however strong our confidence may be in the testimony on which it rests, faith must still fall short of absolute certainty; and though perhaps some will not be disposed to admit the force of this argument in the present case, they must admit that the impression produced by the actual view of a miracle will be considerably greater than that which is caused by the bare relation of it. A particular interposition in behalf of

one's ancestors, has not the effect of the same interposition in behalf of one's self.

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But it will be said, that though one of the two kinds of evidence, on which all revealed religion must depend, had lost much of its force, yet the other-the evidence of prophecy fulfilledwas continually gaining strength, owing to the number of those predictions, the fulfilment of which could not be denied; while, at the same time, the hand of the Almighty was so signally visible in their punishment, when guilty of transgressing his law, and in their deliverance upon repentance, that further proof could scarcely have been obtained from the most stupendous miracle,even though one rose from the dead." Upon this, after once more asserting that it is not our purpose to justify the Jews, we will remark, that though we grant all that is required of us, we only acknowledge them to have acted sometimes in wilful and deliberate opposition to the express will of God. This, indeed, must be confessed of them; and we wish it could be always denied of many enlightened christian nations. There certainly appears to have been times, when every species of idolatry and wickedness was openly and generally practised; when the warning voice of the prophets was disregarded; and when the offended Majesty of heaven cried out for vengeance. But when we consider the powerful effect of splendid example, upon a people not fortified against the allurements of vice and the arguments of infidelity; and when we see it declared in scripture, that it was frequently the corrupt example of the monarch "that caused Israel to sin;" though we must still condemn, if we would be just, their occasional apostasy, we shall learn to blame them with, out acrimony, and to temper our reproaches with charity and compassion.

When the revolt under Jeroboam precluded ten of the tribes from worshipping in the temple of the true God at Jerusalem, that usurper was enabled to introduce the forbidden rites of their idolatrous neighbours, which are so congenial with the bad passions of men, and so indulgent to lawless gratification. The situation of affairs, and the state of men's minds, were at that time but too favourable to any attempt at an alteration in the national religion; and such an opportunity of cutting off all connex

ion with Jerusalem, and of establishing his newly-acquired power, was not to be neglected by an artful prince whose title was founded upon violence, and usurpation, and who was restrained by no conscientious scruples from inflicting a fatal blow upon the best interests of his country. This was the prelude to a series of offences against the laws of Heaven. The denunciations of their prophets were too frequently despised; till at length, the dreadful penalty was exacted, and they mourned in hard captivity their follies and their crimes. But the virtue which prosperity had corrupted shone bright in the time of their affliction. They returned repentant to their God; they derived comfort from his gracious promises to their fathers; and looked forward to the Messiah with pious expectation, for the deliverance of their posterity from all their oppressors. It was in that season so fit for reflection, that they became fully convinced of the superior purity and excellence of their faith, and resolved to adhere to it under every difficulty to which it might subject them. What though they mistook the meaning of those prophecies, which related to the glory of Israel, and the light that was to lighten the Gentiles-we are no where told that they, at that time, wilfully shut their eyes against their true import; and we are, therefore, at liberty to believe that the confidence with which they evidently relied upon their being one day fulfilled, was the result of a diligent and devout examination of them, and a perfect assurance of their Divine origin. Let any one who is acquainted with the language of these predictions, declare, whether their error in expecting, in the Messiah, a temporal prince who should deliver them from all their troubles, and subject all nations to their sway, was not natural and pardonable in a people bowed down, as they were, to the earth by the heavy hand of the oppressor, a people to whom present relief was so very desirable, to whom eternal happiness had been so indistinctly revealed. This unfortunate prejudice against Christ's spiritual kingdom, certainly not founded originally on wilful misapprehension, may be urged as some excuse, though far from a sufficient one, for their conduct towards him who came to save them: but we must defer the further consideration of this interesting subject till a future opportunity.

In our next number, we purpose to state the nature of the revelation vouchsafed to the Jews; to ascertain, as well as we can, how far, in their treatment of the Son of God, they acted in opposition to the light they had, or might have had; and in what degree they are now culpable, in continuing in their unbelief. We shall also offer some additional observations on the work, which gave occasion to this article.

[To be continued.]

THE UNITED STATES NAVY.

THE United States navy consists, it is believed, of three 74's, viz. the Franklin, Independence, and Washington-of five 44 gun frigates-three 36's-two 32's-one 20 gun vessel-ten 18's-besides several smaller ones of 16, 14, 12, and of smaller denominations. There are four 74's on the stocks, besides frigates and smaller vessels. We go on adding to our navy, as fast as we can obtain well seasoned timber-and it is thus we may go on, until we shall become, as bishop Watson once predicted, "the greatest naval power on the globe."

Our government wisely pursues the plan of keeping the vessels we have in service, active-and our seamen well trained. For which purpose they send them on distant expeditions, where our commerce or concerns will be benefited by their presence. Some of them are stationed in the Mediterranean, to watch the crouching corsair. Others are despatched to the gulf of Mexico, to the Pacific, or Indian oceans. Wherever they go, they bear the flag and reputation of their country. They bring distant nations acquainted with the discipline of our seamen, and the urbanity of our officers. Our commerce is protected against exaction and seizure-and an impression is every where imperceptibly disseminated of our strength, of our enterprize, of the blended firmness and courtesy of our naval heroes.

DURING one year, ending on the first of August last, 80,259 bales of cotton were exported from New Orleans.

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POLITICAL STATE OF ALGIERS.

On the Political State of Algiers, the effects of the recent English expedition, and the best line of policy in regard to the Barbary States; with observations, by an Italian gentleman, recently returned from captivity in that country. From the Edinburgh Magazine.

[THE following article, written by a distinguished foreigner, will, we trust, be found equally interesting from its subject and execution. We have the satisfaction to state, that it was communicated by professor Playfair, who, on his late tour on the continent, received it from the author.]

In the state of universal suffering which Europe experiences from a want of demand for the produce of its industry, and while the poor man every where offers his labour without finding employment or adequate wages, no event would be more desirable than one which should extend the empire of civilization, and afford to our manufactures, among a new people, markets which are no longer found in Europe. A formidable disorder has spread through the whole system of our political economy; it is no longer from a vain commercial rivalry, that civilized nations dispute the markets of the world; it is, that they may exist, and that famine may not sweep away all their artisans, all the workmen employed in those numerous establishments, which have perhaps been imprudently multiplied, but which could not now be suffered to fall, without our perishing along with them. If we wish to avoid disasters which make us shudder, and of which we have already felt the approach, we must make haste to open new and extensive markets for the produce of our manufacturing industry; we must find nations accustomed to our arts, to our enjoyments, to all the pleasures and wants of civilization, who will purchase the various commodities with which our warehouses are glutted, and which we must either sell, or perish with hunger.

No country could correspond better to these wishes of the philanthropist than Barbary. If this extensive coast, separated from Europe, rather by the expanse of a large lake than by a sea, were subject to any other government than that of the ruffians by whom it is oppressed, it would soon be connected with us by a commerce most varied, most rich, and most profitable. This beautiful