The National Register. — London, England, 1816-06-09 00:00:00

Iqot Ai, No. 455.—V0i.. IN. ,t.tinbap ?iniussenicnrJ. ON* CHRISTLIN LIBERALITY. Ma. EDITOR,—AS I observe that it has become a leading feature of your NATIONAL ItEcitsmt to avoid the least offence to any Christian sect whatsoever, on ac count of its religious establishment, I design to avail my self of this mark of your impartiality, in order to draw your attention, and that of some at least of your numerous Ite.aders, to what I deem a vital principle of Christianity ; without which, whatsoever may be our sanctity of life and manners, or the extent of our ahns, we must expect to be counted dead bane our Divine Master and I:iv/- giver. I mean that liberal charity to all our fellow christians, to whatever sect or persuasion they may be long, which thinkcth no evil, and vatinteth nut itself. (1 Cur. xiii.) The frailty of human judgment, and the imperfection of human morals, will always furnish sufficient warnings to any considerate mind how little any of us can assmne to ourselves a claim of condemning those who differ from us in our opinions of Divine truths ; and it should be remembered, that truth remains intrinsically the same, notwithstanding the many steps we take to discover it, or the more numerous channels of interpretation by which we are all inclined to take possession of it, and to in fist on that possession as exclusively our own ! I will *appose, for a moment, that none of us, in any age or country, ever took any religious dogma for granted, but well examined it before we adopted it as part of our ('reed ; and that every one deemed it his best in terest and duty to use this previous examination, because his eternal felicity depended upon it ; and I will not dare suggest that any part of our Christian to suppose that they could be satisfied to be called Chris tians without it. Then they will find how far their con viction differs from that of others, equally well disposed as themselves, equally inclined to promote their prospe rity, and equally to be relied upon for virtue, veracity, and a conscientlaus discharge of every moral obligation. If, as soon as they discover any difference in opinion on ocicred subjects, that should be ground of strife and envy, tlle result marl be the entire ruin of that peace by which suciety, civil and religious, is held and compacted toge ther : for, as members of the same union, one member cannot say to the other, " I have no need of thee." The '.ame unjust condemnation which is exerci►ed by the one, is the fair right of the other ; and as it is impossible in the commonest affairs of life that almost any two should think exactly alike on the same plan or measure, or see the same prospect in directly the same point of view : so in the cause of religion the shades and ramifications of each man's interpretation of the same truth attlisrd no cause fir censure ; but, on the contrary, they rather tend to elicit improvement, and to ratify the leading princi ides of our Divine Religion. It is one of the maniti•stations of the goodness of God, that, in the essentials of religion, all are agreed by one impression,—the God and father of all is adored by all nations, from the palace and the university, to the cottage and the shed.. Life is received as his gift, and death is the common lot : the modes of adoration and worship, and the study of the revealed word, have affisrded to many the blessings of this confirmation, which are nut yet ex tended to every part of this sublunary sphere :—but many that are yet ignorant of the truths of the Gospel, are, by stature, prepared for its instruction in the light of eternal life ; they have, as the ancients had before them, a sha dow of good things to come, which the Gospel brought to light, and secured. The present diflitsion of the Scrip tures through every nation of the globe will have the ef fect of civilising the savage, and enlightening the igno rant ; and the basis on which those Scriptures are written, is the general love of one another, by which all men may know that we are the disciples of the same divine master ; and although it will necessarily be that there be some of Cephas, and some of Paul, yet, if every one is well per :wattled in his own mind of the truth which he has cut braced, it is clear that this very truth will lead hint to embrace all as brethren of the great household of fitith, and to cherish the obligations, by which he will become instrumental in the bringing on of everlasting righteous ness. If dilli!rent bodies of Christians were to indulge a contention against each other, and persecution was to •alio wit t itittr+ Our Sting, tomititution anb SUNDAY, JUNE 9,181 g. grace the church of Christ, t , 7 what itnmeasurable length would the party spirit of the world extend, and to what dire destruction would the peace of the gospel be con verted ! Blessed b. God, we now have arrived at a pe riod when the experience of past ages has improved the banners of the cross, and taught its votaries that univer sal conciliation and peace arc to overcome the sword ! Our blessed Lord has left us the peace of his divine ex ample ; and thus, if we would be his disciples, and hope to be acknowledged as such by him at the last dread day of account, it is indispensably necessary, without any reservation or palliative, that our own conduct should be cont4mable to that divine precept which he commanded to be our daily pursuit.—" Be ye tbllowers of me, as dear children. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy : blessed arc the peace makers, flz they shall be called the children of God.—Whoso is angry with his brother without a muse shall be in danger of the judg ment :—first be reconciled to thy brother; then come and offer thy gift. Love your enemies.—Judge not, that ye be not judged :—and, with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you aguin." _ _ The tenor of his life and doctrine, and the instruction which he gave to his apostles, have left us no tr-im to doubt of that liberal judgment which we are bound to form of one another—that we should love or brethren, and especially those that are of the household of faith ; that we should esteem ourselves as one family, united by the same filial love to the same divine parent, instructed by the same holy teacher—redeemed by the same Saviour— and travelling by the height of his truth to the same ever lasting bliss : if we should be careless of this love, and till out by the way," we shall not be fit to come into his sacred presence; if we should withhold our mutual confidence to each other, we should be very unsocial com panions for our journey, and for our eternal abode ; if we should thus deny the master we profess to serve, he will probably deny us before the throne of Grace, and reject our final suit ! Then shall we begin, when too late, to de spise the shadows of things on which we disputed and quarrelled : and while despair takes hold upon us, we call on the mountains to overwhelm us ! A LAYMAN. ICHTHYOLOGY. .-......... The following farts may be worthy of record —their authen• ticity is leniable : As Me, John Wane, erocer, Penrith, was lately following his favourite recreation offishing with roan, in the river E intent, after taking a qnantity of trout, in a part (titld river near to the Giant's Cave, he found an tinusital attack made at his b tit, and immediately discovered he hail hooked a young otter about 711 w. weight, and apparently about four months old. Ou log to the good condition of his tackle, he was PO fortunate as to hr . ng it within reach of his hand-net. but no sooner did he do so, than the y onng savage bit the rim of it in two, althongh made of brass wire about three-quarters of an inch in circumference; he nevertheless contrived to throw it over his head on the hank, and pursuing his success by intervening between the animal and the water, he, after repeated attacks, and not without con siderable difficitlty, seize I upon it. Finding itself in a very nnusnal element, the animal made a loud whistling noise. which brought to it (no doubt with a view of relief) the parents, and with them five or sic young ones, which inuitediately swimming, to the edge of the water set thuinsel% es in battle array. by rearing themselves on their hind legs, and following the example of the captive by setting up a whistling noise, spurting water at Mr. W. and %hewing every symptom of the most savage ferocity. They thirst not, however, make any personal attack, and Mr. W. content with ilia prey, nettle the best of his way along the hanks to a neighbouring house, about $llO yards distant, the old otters fullow•ing him the whole way, evincing the most parental affeetion. Having safely lodged his captive, he resumed his sport, and, before five o'clock in the afternoon, having commenced fishing about sic in the morning, he aet Rally killed ti/lbs. weight of trout, which probably is the greatest number e‘er taken by the rod in the same space or time. He has now the otter in his possession ; and the animal appears in a state of domestication. Rome time men Dr. Mitchill exhibited to the New York Phi losophical Siie,ety a specimen of American Elastic Marble, meamirinz four feet in length, three inches in breadth, and one in thickness. slab was of a snowy wbileuess, of a grained strneture, and of remark lisle flexibility. He had mei'''. et' it of Mes•rs. Norris stud Gain, who got it from the quarry in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Since the receipt of this extraordi nary sample, another one, of n far more considerable size, has been procured by Mr. M-yher. from Stockbridge. This he is preparing for a place in 1)r. Mitchill's cabinet of mineralogy. The dimensions of this stone are as follow ; breadth one foot and ten inches, length five feet, and thickness two inches; making a 1111111• N Of Iwo 111011•111(1 six hundred and forty 'mine inches of elastic ni irble. This slab, when shaken, +iodinates sensibly backwards and forwards ; when supported at the two est emities, middle forms a curve of about two inches from aI. orizontal ; and when tinned over recovers Itself, anJ inclines .1.4 lunch the other way. It has many other carious properties. The snlist:ince limier consideration has been already described 1),) Mr. Meade, in a Memoir printed' in the Ainerimut Mineralogical Journal ; and Ni yr. York probably now contains Use tersest piece diet Use world can produce. PRICE 9 ' ff. IMPERIAL P.IRLIAMENT. HOUSE or LORDS, THUM) Y, JCNt O. The Earl of Dos:out:it mom c. ease notice, that he wand on Tuesday present the Catholic petitions. The Earl of LIVER IMO!. moved the second reading of the Civil List Hill. His Lordship stated the principal fe 'tures of the measure, and contended, that as the principle of a fixed revenue for the Crown had been adopted since the resolution, it was desirable that the articles of fluctuating expetaliture should be separated from it ; and there eonld be no oti.jeetir,a to bring all the articles of fluctuating expenditure annually before Parliament. To obviate certain prejudices respectitt4 the supposed enormous expenJes of the royal personal rsta. blishment, his Lorilship stated, that the total expellee was little more now than it was in 1700. In this arrangement no expellee was proposed which was not for the support ofthe proper dig nity of the Crown, and for the advantage of the public. The Marquis of Lanstrowis a agreed in the propriety of fixing the revenue of the Civil List, and giving :he public the benefit of the surples hereditary revenue of the Crown ; bit when called on to make an additional sacrifice 'of rio,iloai. it became the duty of Parliament to look into the varhibte rev - Rues of the Crown, such as the droits of Admiralty, which ha thought should be surrendered to Parlianient, in lieu of the present fixed revenue proposed to be grauted to the Crowe. Lord HULL AND could not agree to the Hill, b. ause by it Biers was still left in the power of the Crown a fluctuating revenue of the must dangerous tendency to this country. He meant the limits of Admiralty, which were a bouts for the Crown to go to war with other countries without the previous issuing of any declaration of war. He would undertake to prove, that the inerorase of the Civil List revenue to the Crown had been three times what was contemplated by Parliament at the beginning of this reign. The Earl of LivEneout. said, it was a fact which perhaps would excite surprise, that the expenees for defray fag the civil government of the United States was nearly equal to our own . Civil List expenditure. Of course, in this estimate was in• eluded the charge of the provincial as well as the general go vernmeuts. The sum was stated at about 700,0001 or tioo,ool. annually.—The Bill was then read a second time.—Adjourned. FRIDAY, Jests: 7. Sir William Abdy's Divorce Hill went through a Committee, with an allowance to Lady Abdy of 4001. a year for life. The Earl of Usenet:DALE moved that the clause prohibiting the intermarriage of the parties should be omitted. Lord KENYON opposed the motion, en the ground that it would encourage adultery and immorality. The Bishop of CHRSTER opposed the omission of the clausal on the same ground as Lord Kenyon. The Earl of CARNAL R von supported the motion. Such a de cree as making the adulterer marry the adultress, would have,, in the licentious Court of Louis XV. pot an end to all gallantry; whereas a decree to prevent the offending parties from niter marrying, would, in that Court, harchecn treated with derision. The Lord CHANCELLOR supported the introduction of this clause, because he believed that the great temptation was, the hope of the woman that she should be married to the adulterer. Lord KENYON said, that on the third reading he should move the introduction of the clause for prohibiting the offending par ties front intermarrying. The 11111 was then reported, and ordered to be taken Into coitsidei anon on Monday.—Adjourned. HOUSE OF COMMONS, TAWRIDAY, Swim 6. Mr. Csrcii art presented a petition from the electors of Rochester, respecting the acceptance of the place of Treasurer of Greenwich Hospital by me of their representatives. Sir 1'; B. Thompson. They considered it as an office of profit under the crown, whirls rendered their Member's seat void ; and they prayed for a new writ for that city. Mr. Calcraft said, h i s wished on Wednesday to bring the subject to the question of aye or no, and for that purpose on Wednesday he would move for a new writ for Rochester, in consequence of the acceptance of the office now held by Sir T. B. Thompson. The petition was laid on the table. Gen. Gaseor sis asked whether the Chancellor of the Ex chequer had determined oil what relief w.is to be afforded le Innkeepers respecting the Malt Duty allowance? CUANCULLuit of the Exensouan replied, that this business was now under the consideration of the Board of Eseise. Sir H. PAR' ELL brought forward a variety of reaotution for the purpose of inducing the Honse to grant seine minor concessions to the Catholics, by admitting them to the subor. divate offices In the State, the Army and Navy, and in respect to the mode of voting at elections, etc. On the first resolution, for permitting the undisturbed exercise of their religinii in their places of public worship. Lord CA! , TI.Eite tcti objected to the manner in which the subject was brought forward at this late period of the Session., and under circumstances so very inimical to the cause of the Catholic Petitiouers, there not tieing any of the friends of the Petitioners in the House, with the exception of the Hon. Baronet, and one or two other Members. He urged Itim there. fore, to delay the consideration to a more appropriate oppor tunity.—Willa this tecomineudatiou, Sir 11. Parnell reluctantly complied. Mr. W. SMITH gave notice, that he s.aonhd mine for AM• farther papers respecting Extents in Aisi.—..journed at Eleven o'clock. Frtinstr, Ric 7. A new writ was ordered for Gatton, is the room of Sir Wile liana Congreee, who has accepted the Chiltern Hundreds. On the second reading of the Silver Coinage Bill, Lent A. II s strums thought, that every person holding old coin should be entitled to receive the new coin for it at their uon dmon, , nd without loss. As the Bill now stood, the public would be conaiderub;e losers. Mr. Rosa was ready to confess that considerable loss would fall on a clams of persons id able to afford the loss ; but this was ~