the lower and broader part of its course, which will give it an extent absolutely irreconcilable with the idea of Adam's dressing it with his own hands, or even overlooking it; besides, that all communication would be cut off by a river half a mile wide. But this objection is more formidable in appearance than in reality. Although the river watered the garden, there was no necessity that it should intersect it. river waters the ground upon its banks, by imparting moisture to the atmosphere, by occasioning copious dews, and gently refreshing gales; and, in this way, it spreads a wider fertility than any tinkling rill that might flow through the midst of it; or, in process of time, if needful, there might have been a diversion of a small part of the stream.

4. The Bible gives the first and the best account of the origin of nations. It is contained in the tenth chapter of Genesis, where we have the genealogical account of the family of Noah, which, with the exception of a fragment or two in the preceding chapters, is the most ancient statistical document in the world. There we have the names of the immediate descendants of the sons of Noah, and some hints respecting the location of a portion of them. Europe with the Lesser Asia, and some other limited districts, seems to have been the portion of Japhet. This is evident from the statement of the sacred historian, who asserts, that from his descendants were the isles of the Gentiles peopled; and also from the names of peoples and places, and from national traditions. It is generally admitted that Javan (Jon) was the father of the Greeks. Kittim was the ancestor of the aborigines of Italy; and Tarshish that of the Spaniards. The Gomerim, embracing Gomer and his three sons, seem to have spread into Gaul, and Germany, and Britain. Magog, and Tubal, and Mesheck, seem to have crossed the Caucasus, and peopled Russia and Siberia. By some, Togarmah is supposed to have peopled Sarmatia and Scandinavia.

It is generally agreed that Ham's descendants peopled Africa. Part of

them originally inhabited a portion of But the Central and Western Asia. Canaanites were expelled by the Israelites, and the descendants of Nimrod disappeared; and those that inhabited Arabia were merged in the posterity of Ishmael, so that at length they were principally to be found in Africa. The term Ham, which signifies hot, and sometimes the solar heat, seems ominous of that hot country, which, more largely than any other in the eastern continent, is exposed to the rays of the tropical sun. There is no difficulty in tracing the names of Mizraim in Egypt, and Cush in Ethiopia, and Lehabim in the Lybians, and Phut in Mauritania; and from these quarters they appear to have migrated south till they came to Central and Southern Africa.

But

With regard to the posterity of Shem, a large portion of them settled in Central Asia. Arphaxad was the father of the Chaldeans; Aram of the Syrians; Asshur* of the Assyrians; Elam of the Persians, or of a portion of them; and ultimately the sons of Eber occupied Arabia and Palestine. Thus far all is clear. there is a doubt about the peopling of India and China. Some think that it was peopled by a portion of Hamites, who crossed the sea, and spread over Hindostan. But it is more likely that India (and perhaps China) was peopled by the posterity of Shem. Possibly some of the children of Arphaxad migrated to the east; and probably, as Faber thinks, the sons of Joktan were the ancestors of the great body of the Hindoos. Hindoos. The following arguments prove this opinion. First, Moses says that their dwelling is from Mesha, as thou goest into Sephar, a mountain in the east. Some have assigned this to Arabia; but it is only a small portion of Arabia that is east from Palestine; and this and the rest of that large district was already possessed by the posterity of Ham. And it is quite contrary to the spirit of the narrative to suppose that two distinct races should mingle in

This has been questioned; but the Hebrew construction favours our present translation. See Gen. x. 11.

NOVEMBER, 1854.

one district. Secondly, we find the name of Ophir, one of the sons of Joktan, preserved in Ophir, a celebrated place in Eastern Asia. Dr. Eadie, in his Biblical Cyclopædia, says that it was peopled by the descendants of Joktan, and that the most probable opinion is, that it was situated in the East Indies. Thirdly, the Hindoos have a tradition that to Shem all the regions south of the Himalaya, or the Snowy mountains, were assigned by the Creator. And we find, fourthly, that it is corroborated from the prophecy that Japhet would dwell in the tents of Shem. Taking it in its usual acceptation, from which I see no good reason to depart, we perceive how amply this prophecy was fulfilled in the case of the Indians. The Tartars invaded them from the north, the Greeks from the west, and then at present the posterity of Japhet has possession of the whole of Hindostan and a portion of China.

I can only glance at some other topics.

5. We have in the Scriptures the earliest descriptive geographical chart in the world; I allude to the description of Canaan under Joshua. We find a most accurate delineation of boundaries. Respecting this a learned geographer says, that if we may judge of the state of geography by the accuracy of the descriptions of Moses and Joshua, we must conclude that it had made no inconsiderable progress in that kingdom.

6. The Scriptures indicate a respect

able acquaintance with the kingdoms of the world; Africa, India, China, Italy, Spain, Muscovy, Polynesia (?), all are referred to; and whenever they have occa sion to mention them, they do so with accuracy and intelligence.

Now, this is another ground on which the Scriptures are entitled to our fullest confidence. Their information on all subjects of antiquity is unrivalled, accommodated as it is, not to popular errors, but to the facts of the case. I cannot conclude this more properly than in the words of Sir William Jones:"Theological inquiries form no part of my subject; but I cannot refrain from adding, that the collection of tracts, which we call from their excellence the Scriptures, contain, independently of a Divine origin, more true sublimity, more exquisite beauty, purer morality, more important history, and finer strains both of poetry and eloquence, than could be collected from all other books that were ever composed in any age or in any idiom. The two parts of which the Scriptures consist are connected by a chain of compositions which bear no resemblance in form or style to any that can be produced from the stores of Grecian, Indian, Persian, or even Arabian learning. The antiquity of these compositions no man doubts; and the unstrained application of them to events long subsequent to their publication, is a solid ground of belief that they were genuine productions, and consequently inspired."-I am, yours truly, loD.

ONE OF THE GREATEST ORNAMENTS OF THE ENGLISH BENCH.

THE English anuals of the seventeenth century contain much of which we shall

ever feel ashamed, but they contain, at the same time, much of which, as a nateenth century was the birth-time and tion, we may feel proud. The sevenlifetime of men whose names will live

THE FIRST MEETING OF THE LONDON MISSIONARY SOCIETY.

IN the Evangelical Magazine for September, 1794, the Rev. Mr. Bogue, of Gosport, published an address on the conversion of the heathen world, which excited a great deal of private conversation among Christians. Mr. Bogue had occasion to visit London in the early part of November. It was then customary for the Dissenting ministers in and around London to meet for an hour or two every Monday forenoon, in Baker's coffee-house, Cornhill, for general conversation on any public question. Frequently upwards of twenty ministers would be present. On THE FOURTH DAY OF NOVEMBER Mr. Bogue met in this coffee-house with the Rev. Messrs. Brooksbank, Eyre, Love, Reynolds, Steven, Wilks, and Townsend. It was a small but glowing and harmonious circle of ministers of various denominations, drawn together by kindred sympathies, and uniting in prayer and deliberation on behalf of millions of their race, suffering from sin and debased by idolatry. At this meeting it was agreed to invite other ministers to their meetings, and, for the purpose of greater convenience, a suitable room was engaged at the Castle and Falcon Inn, Aldersgate Street. This inn was then kept by a Mr. Dupont, a very pious man, who worshipped either in the Tabernacle or Spafields' Chapel. Long before his day the house had been resorted to by ministers and religious people when visiting London. It was here Dr. Doddridge lived when he came to town. The meetings continued to be held at the Castle and Falcon till the society was formed.

THE GUNPOWDER PLOT CONSPIRATORS.

THE Roman Catholic party in England were exceedingly desirous to recover power and influence, with the re-establishment of their church, on the death of Queen Elizabeth. They were very anxious about the succession to the throne. Thomas Percy, who afterwards became one of the conspirators, had even been

sent down to Edinburgh to learn James's opinion, and the King of Scotland, with that duplicity which so strongly marked his character, gave him so favourable a reception as to put the Catholic party in England in high hope, and heartily engaged them to support his claim to the English throne. The penal laws against the Papists were then very oppressive. Twenty pounds a-month were exacted from those who did not attend the parish church; and James, on ascending the English throne, found these fines to realize so handsome a sum, that he deemed it expedient to replenish his needy exchequer out of these heavy exactions. The Popish party were not only exasperated, but felt they had been deceived by the monarch. They were determined on having their revenge. It is a great mistake to suppose that the persons in the secret of the gunpowder plot were a set of illiterate ruffians. They were men determined on perpetrating a stupendous crime, accompanied with circumstances of peculiar aggravation, but, nevertheless, by birth and education were persons of note. The individual with whom the plot originated was Robert Catesby, a gentleman of good estate and ancient family in Northamptonshire. The first individual whom he admitted to his councils was Thomas Winter, gentleman equal to him in rank. The next individual was John Wright. Thomas Percy, already mentioned, who was nearly related to the noble family of the same name, was easily won over. person, however, whose name has come to be most frequently mentioned in connection with the plot, on account of the part assigned to him in it, was Guido or Guy Fawkes. Until very recently, little was known of this individual. It has now been ascertained that he was most respectably connected. His father was an advocate in the consistory court of the Archbishop of York, and his grandfather was registrar of the exchequer of Yorkshire in 1541. From the registers of the church of St. Michaelle-Belfry, in York, it appears that Guy, the conspirator, was baptized on the 16th April, 1570, so that he was under

The

Parliament-house.

At two o'clock on the morning of the 5th November, 1605, Fawkes was seen leaving the cellar beneath the House of Lords. He was seized; and on the cellar being examined, the train was discovered, and thirty-six barrels of gunpowder. The rest of the conspirators had, by previous agreement, left London. The place of their retreat was detected. Catesby, the brothers Wright, and Percy, were killed or mortally wounded in the attempt to take them. The two Winters, Rookwood, Sir Everard Digby, Grant, Keyes, and Bates, with three Jesuit priests, were taken prisoners. On their trial not one witness was orally examined, the evidences having consisted of the written depositions of the prisoners themselves, and that of a servant of Digby. They were condemned to death, and the sentence executed on a portion of them on the 30th January following, and on the remainder on the 31st.

THE FAMOUS GENERAL ASSEMBLY HELD IN GLASGOW IN 1638.

THE year 1637 is generally fixed on in Scotland as "the beginning of the troubles." In that year, the attempt to introduce the "Service Books into the public worship in Scotland occasioned the famous riot in St. Giles', Edinburgh, which must be regarded as the commencement of the "civil war." The Covenanters of Scotland, strongly attached to Presbyterianism, were set on the renewal of the covenants, deeming them their palladium. The Rev. Alexander Henderson, of Leuchars, in Fife, was the leader of the Presbyterian party among the clergy, and the covenant sworn to at that period was the production of his pen. It was first presented for signature in the Greyfriars' churchyard, Edinburgh, in February, 1638, and afterwards carried over the country, where it was signed by thousands. The court party were by these proceedings openly defied, and found it necessary to exercise a temporizing policy towards the Covenanters. The Marquis of Hamilton was sent down by Charles, with

great pomp, to act as his commissioner in Scotland, empowering him to call a Parliament and a General Assembly. He was also empowered, if he saw necessary, to recall the canons, or ecclesiastical laws which Episcopacy had forced upon Scotland, the liturgy, which had proved so obnoxious, and the five ar ticles of Perth.

He

At the same time he had his secret instructions to overawe the Covenanters, and crush their proceedings. The famous General Assembly, which was then convened, met at Glasgow, on THE TWENTY-FIRST DAY OF NOVEMBER, 1638, and held its sittings in the Cathedral, or High Church. The Rev. Mr. Bell, of Glasgow, who was very aged, preached on the occasion. The first day was very much occupied in matters of form. The next day the Assembly proceeded to choose a moderator, to which the king's commissioner objected, until the commissions of the members present were examined. The Assembly carried. their point against him, pleading custom and the necessity of the present case; against which his grace protested. then presented the declinature of the bishops to attend this assembly, and the reading of it was commenced amidst a stormy debate; the Assembly maintaining that they must be regularly constituted by a moderator chosen for this purpose before any paper could be read; and that, upon his being chosen, they would then hear his grace's paper. This only issued in his taking a fresh protest. The Rev. Mr. Henderson was then chosen moderator, and the declinature of the bishops was read and discussed. On the moderator putting it to the vote, whether, as an Assembly, they were competent to sit in judgment on the bishops, the king's commissioner again interfered, and interponed his authority to prevent the vote being taken. Angry words were then spoken. The Covenanters could not succumb to the dictation of their king in matters which affected their ecclesiastical constitution. The commissioner, in virtue of the powers vested in him, formally dissolved them as an Assembly, and forbade