tend to promote it, is manifestly the product either of ignorance, or hostility to true religion. In the mouth of a pretended christian such an apprehension amounts to this position: a little Christianity is useful, but much of it will ruin the nation. And, can this in truth. be termed any thiug else than infidelity?

HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF EGYPT.

Egypt is a country on the northeast of Africa and southwest of Canaan, and is situated between the 24th and 33d degrees of north latitude, and between the 29th and 34th of east lo gitude from London. Its length from north to south is 600 miles: its breadth from east to west is 300 miles. It is bounded by the Mediterranean sea on the north; by the deserts of Lybia on the west; by Abyssinia on the south; and by the Red sea on the east. It was anciently called Chemia, or the land of Ham, who was the youngest son of Noah. Here Ham resided. The Hebrews called it Mizraim, from Mizraim the son of Ham, who peopled it. Its present name, Egypt, was given it by the Greeks, which signifies the land of blackness, because the soil and water are of a blackish color. The river Nile runs through it, and waters it. Egypt was once very populous and contained about 20,000 cities; and was divided into 36 counties, which were generally named after the chief city in each.

The ancient Eyptians were exceedingly given to divination and idolatry. Their chief idols were Osiris and Isis, or the sun and moon, Jupiter Ammon Serapis, Anubis, Harpocrates, Ovus Canopus, &c. The pyed bull, of which much of their religion consisted, was the representative of Osiris, or the sun. They also worshipped sheep, goats, cats, and even leeks and onions. They were reckoned by the more ancient Greeks as the most noted for philosophy of any nation in their time. They were no less so for architecture, of which their large pyramids remain a proof to this day. The largest is said to be 499 feet high, and 693 feet at the base on each side; which makes the whole area of its foundation to be 480,249 square feet. The Labyrinth was a structure with one door, which contained 12 palaces and 300 chambers. Here was an assemblage of all their idols; and here the magistrates of the whole nation held their grand con

ventions.

Mizraim the son of Ham, with his posterity, peopled Egypt after the flood, and he was the first king of that nation. He was succeeded by a vast number of Pharaohs, some say 60. Two or three hundred years after Egypt began to be settled by the descendants of Ham, the youngest son of Noah, there happened seven years of great plenty, which were succeeded by seven years of famine; in which it is probable most of the Egyptians would have perished, had it not been for the wise management of Joseph. At this time the Hebrews went down into Egypt. After they had been there about one hundred years, another king Pharaoh arose who knew not Joseph, who took every method to oppress them.-Morning Star.

INQUISITION.

Every day brings to us evidence, that Protestants are awakening, and becoming more concerned for the cause of truth and liberty, as the extracts which we publish from religious papers of different denominations, prove, satisfactorily, to our readers. If the people become more generally informed upon the awful effects which the uncontrolled errors of Popery produce, they may, by their prayers and benevolent institutions, keep them within a narrow limit, and even diminish the errors among those who may continue attached to the external forms of the Romish church.

We extract the following (verbatim) from the Vermont Chronicle of the 9th of April. It will be seen that the difference of opinion as relates to non-essentials, among Protestants, has no undue influence upon them now. "By means like those which Luther employed, says the editor of the Chronicle, let the doctrines which Luther taught be made to fill the land."[EDITOR.

What is the character of the Papal church, and what influence may we expect it to exert upon civil and religious liberty? We may judge, in part, from the following "Extract from the Constitution of the Inquisition, as enacted 31st October 1242."

"1. Ut Heretici-That heretics, condemned by the Roman Catholic Church, &c. are to be handed over to the secular power for punishment, (where the secular power supports this tribunal.)

"2. That heretics, though penitent, are to be perpetually impris oned.

"3. That heretics are to be taken up every where and consigned to the Inquisitors.

4 That the favorers and abettors of heretics, are to be punished as well as heretics themselves, &c.

“5. That they are, by virtue of the same law, to be punished in the same manner, even in case they would make their escape and fly to another country.

6. That the repentance of heretics who relapse, is not to be received.

7. That their appeals are not to be listened to or received.

"8. That their descendents, to the second generation, are to be deprived of their temporal benefices and public offices.

9. That the Inquisitors are to be favored every where.

10. That heretics are to be carefully kept in custody until they are condemned.

11. That heresy is to be accounted among public crimes, and adjudged greater than the crime of high treason.

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"12. That impenitent heretics are to be burned alive.

13. That the favorers of heretics are to be perpetually banished, and their property confiscated,

"14. That the children of the favorers and abettors of heretics, are to be deprived and expelled from all dignities and honors, except they would discover, (inform of) some heretic.

15. That heretics are always to be looked upon and considered as infamous people, and not to be confided in; that their goods are to be confiscated, and their children cannot inherit their property.

16. That those who are suspected of heresy, unless they satisfactorily clear themselves from that suspicion, are considered as infamous people and as banditti; and if they persevere for twelve months, under this suspicion, they are to be condemned as heretics, &c.

"17. That those invested with civil power, and rectors in their respective places, are to be bound down by an oath to prosecute heretics publicly.

"18. That many more punishments, to be mentioned hereafter, are to be inflicted on those who favor heretics, and also on those who believe them.

"19. That these laws are universal, and are to be observed and put in execution every where, &c.

20. That heresy is never to be tolerated; but, on the contrary, is always to be punished. HERESIS NUNQUAM TOLERANDA, SED SEM

PER PUNIENDA."

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Such," says the writer who furnished these extracts for the Christian Watchman," are the fundamental principles of the Inquisition, which have been confirmed and perpetuated by the Bulls of Popes to the present day. In the Register of 1819, the Pope, Pius VII, and the congregation of " the Universal Inquisition," announced themselves as the authors and abettors of the Inquisitorial system."

Will the Inquisition be established in the United States, if Popery becomes predominant? How do the Roman Catholics in this country regard the Inquisition? A late number of the "Jesuit," a Roman Catholic paper, published in Boston, says, "The INQUISITION is, in its very nature, GOOD, MILD and PRESERVATIVE. It is the universal, indelible character of every Ecclesiastical Institution; you see it at Rome, and you can see it wherever the true Church has power." What think you, Christian and Republican reader, of this combination of European kings and prelates, with the Pope at their head, sending over, at such a vast expense, successive reinforcements of Jesuits, to establish such a religion as this? What think you of the success, which has already attended their labors-the churches and cathedrals they have built,-the schools and colleges they possess, in which protestants are often persuaded to educate their children,-the convents they have erected, and filled with converts from the Protestant faith? What think you of the fact, that their faithful servant, the Bishop of Bardstown, writes to his patrons in France, concerning hindrances to his work, which cannot be removed, "as long as the republican government shall subsist ?"

The man, who uses this language, is commissioned by the Pope, the head of the Inquisition, and paid by members of the "Holy Alliance." Let them go on as they have begun, and ere long we shall be, in respect to liberty, and ntelligence, and morals, and piety, what Spain now is; for the same conspirators against the rights of man and the rights of God are employing among us, with success, the same means, by which Spain has been held down in her present degradation.

But how shall this be prevented? How shall the progress of Popery be stayed?-But one method of resisting popery to any good purpose has ever yet been found; and, from the nature of the case, no other ever can be found. It is that adopted by Luther, at the commencement of the Reformation, and carried on with vigor by him and his brethren, during its progress. It was, the preaching of a free salvation from sin and its consequences, not of works, but through faith in the atoning blood of the divine Redeemer; the diffusion of the same doctrines among every class of people in cheap religious tracts; and the following up of both with the general distribution of the Holy Scriptures, in the language of the people. By these means, and by these alone, has the dominion of popery ever been shaken, or its progress checked.

With the experience of three centuries to guide us, the course which we ought to pursue is plain. By means like those which Luther employed, let the doctrines which Luther taught be made to fill the land. Let the voice of the living preacher utter them. Let religious tracts disperse them. Let the Bible, in plain English, go into every family and teach them. God will, as formerly, add his blessing, and souls shall be saved from sin, and the right of man and the service of God shall be permitted to continue among us.

Christian! Republican! Friend of man! You see your work; and you must DO IT. You must address yourself to the performance of it, with an earnestness, an energy, and a perseverance, proportionate to the importance of the object you have in view. Opposition you must expect. True, the Pope cannot throw you into a dungeon, and then deliver you over to the flames, as in Spain; nor is it probable that his followers will shoot you in your house, for disseminating the truth, as is sometimes done in Ireland. But "the tongue can no man tame." You may expect its "deadly poison" to be directed against your character, your influence, and your peace. You may expect that the open and secret friends of the Pope will say all manner of evil against you;" that they will accuse you of every thing which may be expected to render you unpopular, and diminish your power to oppose them. You must expect to hear the cry of "enthusiasm," "bigotry," "superstition," "priest-craft," "church and state," and whatever else may serve the purpose of the Pope and his vassals. Nor may you expect such treatment from the adherents of Rome alone. Every thing, which the bible and its truths would prostrate, will rise up against you and join the cry, and thus do what they can to "lend their power to the beast." And other multitudes will join the cry, merely because it is raised, they know not wherefore. But you must

face it all, and persevere in the work of a reformer in defiance of it all, or give up your country to be the abode of despotism, and your children's souls to the guidance of anti-christ. And remember, there is no time to lose. The enemy is even now in the field.

POPISH SUPERSTITIONS.

The following extracts from the Ritual of the Romish Church for baptizing their bells, singularly exemplifies the truth of the Scriptures: That men, not liking to keep God in their knowledge, their hearts become darkened; and "professing themselves to be wise, they become fools." As a lamentable picture, not of the vulgar and unacknowledged, but of the established superstitions and blasphemy practised in the nineteenth century, it calls for particular notice. This Ritual has been brought to light through the trials of Capt. Atchison and Lieut. Dawson, at Malta. It now appears those gentlemen were called to toll a bell, as well as fire off patteraroes, in those rites of the Romish Church from which they so justly requested to be exonerated. Mr. Atchison published this Ritual, with va rious facts, showing the humiliating situation of Protestant officers at Malta, in the appendix to his trial. The original Latin is given with the translation, that its faithfulness may not be disputed.

The Ritual is introduced by the following address of the Bishop of Chalons, after christening six bells in the year 1824, as published in the French papers, the year in which the trials of these officers took place:

The bells placed like sentinels on the top of the tower, watch over us, and turn away from us the temptations of the enemy of our salvation, as well as tempests and storms. They have a voice which serves as an organ to express our joy and our grief. They speak and pray for us in our troubles-they inform heaven of the necessities of the earth. It is you, Mary, who will have to announce the festivals and proclaim the glory of the Lord. [Mary weighs 8,560 pounds.] And you Anne, will be charged with the same employment. Oh! what touching lessons will you give in imitation of her whose name you bear, and whom we honor as the purest of virgins." [Anne weighs 6,300 pounds.] After singing the 50th, 53d, 56th, 66th, 69th, 85th, and 129th Psalms, the following prayer is said: "Bless, oh Lord, this water with a heavenly blessing, and let the power of the Holy Spirit accompany it, that when this bell, prepared to call the children of the holy church, shall be sprinkled therewith, it may, wherever its tinkling shall sound, cause to depart all the power of secretly plotting enemies, all the airy shades of hobgoblins, the attack of whirlwinds, the blasts of lightnings, the blows of thunderbolts, the destructions of tempests, and all the power of stormy winds. And when the children of Christians shall hear the clanging of this bell, may an increase of devotion be begotten in them, that hastening to the bosom of the church their mother, they may