extract, both as a specimen of Mr. Mammatt's general manner, and as an illustration of our previous observations.

If it should be found that the slips or faults in coal-strata, in limestone rocks, in sandstone, in slate, and in almost all rocks, are universally of the same nature; and if proper allowance be made for the composition of the substance, for its declination as to the bed, and for its other local relations, must not the origin of faults be referred to some general law of nature? Cannot induration alone account for it? Volcanoes and earthquakes are not proved to be so uniform in their action as to produce the effect. If the process of desiccation, compression, and induration be strictly investigated in its natural bearings, its results will explain the phenomena of slips in all their modifications throughout the Ashby Coal-field. They extend to a depth altogether beyond our reach: the deepest mines in the earth prove their continuation downwards; and, on the surface, they are traced for miles. In like manner also, the same process may account, not only for the small slips and declinations, but for all tilts and declinations of strata. It will even account for the vertical position of entire masses, for the position of masses reversed for short distances, and for the sudden depressions of surface, both in mountainous districts, and on the sea shores, where the depths of the sea are generally proportioned to the height of the strata lying with their beds nearly vertical.'

We must not, however, take leave of this handsome quarto, without rendering due praise to the liberal apparatus of drawings and diagrams that accompanies the work, and gives it high value and importance in a practical view. The lithography is somewhat coarse, but it bears the better aspect of elaborate fidelity; and although the absence of scientific arrangement is a serious defect, yet, even this is in some degree supplied by references to other works of more systematic character.

Art. IV.-1. A Discourse occasioned by the Death of the Rev. William Carey, D.D., of Serampore, Bengal. By Christopher Anderson, Edinburgh. 8vo. 1s. 6d. Edinb. 1834.

2. Tenth Memoir respecting the Translations of the Sacred Scriptures into the Oriental Languages. By the Serampore Brethren. With a brief Review of their various Editions from the Commencement in the Spring of 1794. 8vo. Second Edition. Edinburgh, 1834. T is not a subject for the pencil,-but we can picture to ourselves no human being in an attitude of mind partaking more of moral grandeur, no human intellect more sublimely occupied in the view of angels, than William Carey, the obscure village schoolmaster, conceiving the project of going forth, singlehanded, to make an inroad into the very heart of the kingdom of

darkness, in the distant East. While yet a youth, struggling with penury, his mind was first visited with that strong impression of solicitude for the salvation of the heathen, which it would be impiety to ascribe to any other source than the immediate suggestion of Him who had designed and separated him for the work. If there is such a thing as a call from Heaven, conveyed, not by audible sound or by vision, but by an internal impression of which the reason, not the imagination, is the subject,—if there is any propriety in speaking of being moved, on any occasion, by the Holy Ghost, such language will most appropriately describe the formation of this strong, heroic purpose in the mind of young Carey. Among other branches of elementary knowledge which he was employed in teaching to his village pupils, he was particularly fond of geography; and, as he pointed out to them the different countries on the map, or globe, he was led to mention the religion professed by the inhabitants. Going over this repeatedly, and having occasion to reiterate, These are Pagans, and these are Pagans,'-it occurred to him :- I am now telling ، these children as a mere fact, what is a truth of the most melancholy character.' This led to a train of deep and anxious meditation, the result of which he afterwards imbodied in the form of a tract entitled, Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians to use means for the Conversion of the Heathen.' This was

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written before he had received any encouragement to cherish his noble project, although, owing to his innate modesty combined with poverty, it was not published till the year 1792. The train of thought by which the solemn sentiment first awakened, was matured into a fixed resolution and conscientious principle of action, is thus interestingly described by Mr. Anderson.

'It seems as though it had been the commission of our blessed Lord to his apostles, which, of itself alone, set all in motion. He had said Go-Go and teach all nations, and again, Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. The extent of this commission was manifest, and though, perhaps, scarcely a single individual upon earth at the moment arrogated less to himself than Carey, the obligation was felt by him to be imperative. He sat down-patiently examined into all that had been accomplished, first by the apostles themselves, and then by others down to his own day; and after this took a minute survey of the existing state of the world. Dividing it into the four quarters of Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, he ascertained as exactly as he could the extent of every country, the number of its inhabitants, and their religion. At the conclusion, his estimate was this-That there were then living in the world about seven hundred and thirty-one millions of human beings,-of these he calculated that seven millions were Jews; thirty millions belonging to the Greek and Armenian churches; forty-four millions were Protestant Christians ; one hundred millions Roman Catholics; one hundred and thirty millions Mahometans; and therefore, four hundred and twenty millions

still in Pagan darkness. An estimate as we now know to have been below the truth.

Of the heathen, he entertained no desponding idea; they appeared to him as capable of receiving knowledge as ourselves, having in many places discovered uncommon genius; in others, a tractable disposition; but his conceptions of other parties were at once just and depressing. The vices of the Europeans had been conveyed to the heathen, and had sunk them lower still-the Christians of the Greek and Armenian churches were more vicious than the Mahometans themselves-the Georgian Christians, near the Caspian, maintained themselves by selling their neighbours and relations, and even their children, for slaves to the Turks and Persians-the members of the Greek church were extremely ignorant, and Papists in general almost as much so, and very vicious. Nor," said he, "do the bulk of the Church of England much exceed them, and many errors and much looseness of conduct are to be found amongst dissenters of all denominations. The Lutherans in Denmark are much on a par with the ecclesiastics of England, and the face of most Christian countries presents a dreadful scene of ignorance, hypocrisy, and profligacy. Various baneful and pernicious errors appear to gain ground in almost every part of Christendom; the truths of the gospel, and even the gospel itself, are attacked, and every method that the enemy can invent is employed to undermine the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ."

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Such was the state of things, in our world, according to Carey's estimation; and with this general, though gloomy outline, every dispassionate and intelligent Christian will agree, when he is reminded that the picture was drawn between the years 1785 and 1791; and, therefore, years before the existence of any Missionary efforts in this country; when the church at large lay in a state of sad repose.

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Turning, however, again to the heathen world; there were impediments in the way. Their distance from our shores-their barbarity-the danger of being killed-the difficulty of subsistence, and their language was unknown! But before his spirit, these mountains were but a plain.

'If distance was talked of, he literally fixed his eye on the mariner's compass, or on the ships that had gone out on voyages of discovery, but, above all, on such passages of the Divine word as this, "Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring my sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, unto the name of the Lord thy God." Commerce, he believed, would subserve the spread of the gospel, and that there would be a very considerable appropriation of wealth to that purpose.

As to the barbarity of the heathen-This, he thought, could be an objection only to those whose love of ease rendered them unwilling. This was no objection to the apostles, nor, in modern times, to such men as Elliot or Brainerd; nor even to commercial men, who braved all such barbarity, for the profits arising from a few otter-skins. After all, this uncivilised state of the heathen he regarded as an argument for preaching to them, not against it. "Can we hear", said he, "that they are without the gospel, without government, without laws, without arts and science, and not exert ourselves to introduce among them the sentiments of men and of Christians?"

In regard to the danger of life, he thought that whoever went, must put his life in his hand, and not consult with flesh and blood; our duty as creatures and as Christians loudly calling upon us to venture every thing.

'As to the difficulty of procuring subsistence; this would not be so great as at first sight. "The Christian Minister would at least obtain such food as that on which the natives subsisted, and this would only be passing through what he had virtually engaged to do, by entering on the ministerial office. The Christian minister was in a peculiar sense not his own. He engages to go, where God pleases-to do or endure whatever he commands. He virtually bids farewell to friends, and pleasures and comforts." "It is inconsistent," said Carey, "for Ministers to please themselves with thoughts of a numerous auditory, cordial friends, a civilized country, legal protection, affluence, splendour, or even a competency. The slights and hatred of men, and even pretended friends-gloomy prisons and tortures, the society of barbarians of uncouth speech-miserable accommodation in wretched wildernesses, hunger and thirst and nakedness, weariness and painfulness, hard work, and but little worldly encouragement, should rather be the objects of their expectation". "I question," said he, "whether all are justified in staying here, while so many are perishing in other lands. Sure I am, it is entirely contrary to the spirit of the gospel for its ministers to enter upon it from interested motives, or with great worldly expectations. On the contrary, the commission is a sufficient call to them to venture all, and, like the primitive Christians, go every where preaching the gospel".

'As for the difficulty of acquiring a foreign tongue, having mastered several languages already, he made nothing of this objection; but fully satisfied that the prophecies respecting the increase of Christ's kingdom were true, and the commission of the Saviour was still obligatory, his mind was loaded with a sense of the importance of all these principles. Thus, when he began to be about thirty years of age, having made known his views through the medium of the press; in the summer of 1793, he gave to all he had said the force of his own example, by embarking for India.'

From the Discourse before us, and an article which has appeared in a provincial journal, we obtain the following particulars relating to the birth and early life of this admirable man, the Protestant Xavier.

William Carey was born at Hackleton, in Leicestershire *, on the 17th of August, 1761. The circumstances of his parents were extremely narrow, and he had few advantages of education, except those which his own active and inquiring mind obtained for him. He was brought up as a journeyman shoemaker; and a boot made by him is still preserved by one of his friends as a relic. It was about the year 1779, when he was in his 18th

* The article in the Liverpool Times states, that he was born at Paulersbury, in Northamptonshire; but this we presume to be a mistake.

year, that young Carey became the subject of a decided religious change. Up to that time, he had discovered no piety, and had even ridiculed religious people. The conversation of a fellowapprentice, the occasional ministry of the Rev. Thomas Scott, the Expositor, and the perusal of the "Help to Zion's Travellers", by Robert Hall the elder, are stated to have been the means of his conversion. Mr. Scott was not aware of having been instrumental in producing this happy change in Carey's mind, till he learned it from a message conveyed to him from the venerable Missionary himself, through Dr. Ryland, more than forty years after. "He heard me preach only a few times', Mr. Scott wrote in reply, and that, as far as I know, in my rather irregular excursions; though I often conversed and prayed in his presence, and endeavoured to answer his sensible and pertinent inquiries, at Hackleton. But to have conveyed a single useful hint to such a mind as his, may be considered as a high privilege and matter of gratitude.'

The change in young Carey's sentiments and feelings soon became visible to his family, in his altered conduct and conversation, and was the subject of wonder. For some time he stood

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' alone in his father's house.' At length he asked and obtained leave to introduce family prayer. When in his nineteenth 'year', says his sister, my dear brother used to speak (on religious topics) at a friend's house in the village, when he came to see us. I recollect a neighbour of ours, a good woman, the 'first Monday morning after he had spoken before a few friends, 'came in to congratulate my mother on the occasion; when with some surprise my mother said: "What! do you think he will 'be a preacher?" "Yes", our friend replied," and a great one too, if he lives". My father felt a great desire to hear him, if ' he could go undiscovered. In this, he was afterwards gratified, though unknown to my brother or any one at the time. We 'could tell he was gratified, although he never discovered any thing to us like praise. In a few years, I hope, God gave him the desire of his heart, in bringing his two sisters to see a 'beauty in religion. Then we were dear indeed to each other.' In 1783, Mr. Carey united himself to the Baptist Church at Olney, under the pastoral care of the Rev. Mr. Sutcliff. By this church, agreeably to the practice which then obtained among that denomination, he was, in 1785, called to the work of the ministry. In the following year, he removed to Moulton, a village four miles from Northampton; and he was ordained pastor over the infant Baptist Society in that village in 1787. Even there, his whole income being much below £20 a year, he taught a village school for his support. In July 1789, he removed to Leicester, and in May 1791, was ordained to the pastoral charge of the Baptist church meeting in Harvey lane, over which the