The National Register. — London, England, 1816-07-22 00:00:00

4)r Oatitinitt No. 441.—V01.. IX. O.V THE END OF VIE WORLD. HOW would the penetrating cye of Butler have looled'into the hearts of the modern Philosophers who plaoned the dostruction of the world on the 18th inst. from the spots on the suns disk ! and would have s,•ut them to the wise Astrologer of his day, That deals in dustinicA. dark conarils, And sav opiniotag of the ninon; wham all people. far and Ileac, On &ell importance- repair. 2 Find. cant. 3. and would have laughed at their restless folly, while he quaffed is peace his nut-brown ale, and slept as soundly as on any other night of his existeoce. It is true, that liefiwe that terrible day, and near its approach, there will be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars ; but these are not such sigmas spots on the sun's disk : Meteors arc not signs of that nature—they arc the na tural exhalations of the planetary system, its diurnal course—its astonishing velocity, and its rotatory motion ; and these are frequently shown to he as transitory as the spray of the sea upon the objects of the surrounding shore. mke minds, ignorant of the wonderful phenomena, have also ascribed the rain, during the present month, to these spots on the inn: but they do not recollect, that rain is the dissolving of clouds which are moved by the wind, and are not only Lir below the sun, but far below many mountains; from the summits of which travellers have stool, and beheld storms of rain and lightning, and thunder, playing below them !—the mucous particles of these clouds falling in drops of min won the earth, are thus returned to refresh its vegetation, mid render its otherwise parched surface fruitful : but they are opera tions of a lower region; a medium too low ferthe sun's operation, except in its congenial efliTt.. Some have gone so tia back as to imagine they can trace some re cords of many spots on the sun previous to the deluge ; -which event happened '2349 years before the Christian /Eta, according to the Bible historY ; hut as Moses has a )t. said one word about the,sun or his situation at that lime (sax: Gen. vii.), probably these gentlemen have- some calculations or minutes of their own, by which this mat ter has 'been peculiarly revealed to them in these latter days, in preference to Moses ! But it is an extraordi nary presumption in any philatophers to assume a spirit of dictation and slum ; when they, by a short reference to the only authority on such grave subjects, may not only satisfy themselves, but be detected by their readers! "Throughout the Old Test:incept, the end width is there allnded .te, is the end of each nian's l!fe. It seems to have heen re -served for the Christian Revelation to declare the end of the world, as well as immortality. 'flicexpeetatien ()edits is often, as it were, habitually expressed Icy the terns " tkese latter da s s," as denothatT that the lime was at hand: and many of the ex hortations to morality are founded nut only upon the tincer• tainty of life, but upon the time being short!—" Brethren, the time is short," said lit..P4lll;—and St. Peter says, " tke end of all things is at haul." 1 Pet. iv. "i*, IT. ISnt, in the time of our Saviour, the people being desirous of knowing some lithe; of these facts, asked their Divine Master, " when these things should be, and what would be the Fi7,11 of his coming and of Jlie end of the world ?" Matt. xxiv. 3. Our Lord's answer clearly distinguished between the ttibulations arising from the ,calamities which were assuredly to fall upon their cite, and the time of which they eimuiri•il —Gtr they lia:1 supposed their city to be as eternal as the world itself—but Ice concluded by declaring, that "such things must MT& be,blit the end was not. yet." v. ti. And after mentioning their aftlivtions anal persecu tions for the sake of their faith, be promises " tins thud reward of euluution to those who shoild endure throng!' them." s. It. Exhorting Oren in their patience still tic possess their souls (Lnke xxi. I 9.), he thou foretells the fall al Jerusalem an.: its grievous sorrows, and that she should be trodden dots 4.! the Gentiles mail their time should he folfuled, Luke asi. 24. It wits; not until otter those triludations that the seemsd routing of tun of Math was to be expected ; sslvic the snit should be dark.. ened, and the moon bllutild 110: cite 111. r light. and the stars Of Neaten should fall, and the powers of the heavens should be shaken (\loft. X•is'.'29.l; and then should appear the sign of the 51:mot — Ilan in heaven, &e. v. 30. But of that day and hour know eth no into t no, not the angels of It-.oven, but my father only, v. 31f. If ye peaftv ; for in such an hour as e think not, the: Pion of than corneal. v. tt. .Iccil this exhortation is ficlloweir eh. %%v.) by the er:r.timtcd parables and valuable examples a': the ten virgins and tire eight talt ; and the subject is closed by an awful sielicsoaSion of the last judgment, anti the uteri iful distribation of rewards anti pacislimetos. Suck is the end ilesi•ribi•il I,y St. Ma ttliese.—No one doubts his authority. 1111 , 1 every one aoknooleilges that none of the signs which he predicts hate yet appeared; but as the sidel ines of Jerusalem took place, Ills se most assuredly follow as the close of lice propheev. cventiliose who have applied t h e t e ems su it , moan, and 'dare, to the Ariel.. pclitie;ll hemi spheres, ohmic fell in the dire visitations of the Fronch revo lution, do also w•knowledge that our Lord's prophecy of kis own cioni lig 55.1 s olteral, and not comitif if to one nation,: and that Define 11131 awful period, all the nations of the earth should se,.! awl feel the blessing: of his salvation: and there • for • it iit.u•l be at once contioiseil, that though the time may approach., it is lint yet. A sudiei.mt period is 4iveet for amend- Jaunt, for vigilance, oast for repeutaucc, to all tlse. natio:lied tk ,world! Our ittq, Qo MONDAY, J' f Liitittr+ In anlf 3i.a1336. 22, 1816. But the end of the world has been supposed by many eminent men to be by fire—an intert.retation wartanted from some ex pressions of our Lord himself, in allosion to that element. " I am come to send tire on the eardli and what will I if it be al ready kindled." Luke xii. 49.-e-For St. John Baptist had already antionneed him as " It:tilting with the Holy Ghost alai with tire, and that he slienid burnmp the chaff with mumeneh ithletire." Mat. M. it. 1 g.—Ltta • 'I. 17.—St. Prodadopts the .acne allusion in speakin g of the, toe judgement ; wh en , b y the example of a building, he sap; Let every man take he e d how 112 builde!lo they capon; for ter found a ti on can no man has, than that is laid. which is Jc 4 Christ. How if any man build oporeillllw(ounelation gold,, silver, precious stones, wood, hay. stubble; every maser work AIWA be made manifest. For the day shall declare it, because it shrill Ire revealed by fire; and the tine stout try ever y man's sweet of what sort it is. 1 Cor. iii. Il.—lf any man's wool< :Aside, valieelt he bath built thereupon, he shall receive n reward—if any 1117111'S work shall Ine burnt, lie shall suffer loss, hut he himself shall be saved ; yet, so as by fire," r.14.-I'he sante Apostle, in his second epistle to the 'Tess. ch. i. v. 8. uses the same sentiment in speaking of the second coming of our Lord ; when lie shall be revealed fre m Heaven, with Iris mighty angels in claming tire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, awl that obey not the son of our Lord, Jesus Christ ; who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and fret,, the glory of his power; when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be ad mired in all them that believe in that day !-- —We trace th e sa me 141111 , i0n in the epistle to the Hebrews, C. li. 6. %% here he is eeptobating those who fall away from their tloith, who orucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put. him to an open shame; fur the earth whirl) drinketh - ;tithe min that cornett) oft apron it, and bringeth Nth herbs meet for them by sham it .is dressed, receiveth bltllving front God; but that which heareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto (nosing, whose end is to be burned." By nature we see that heat it the governing principle tlf creation. St. Peter closes this part of etvalation, if' the second of the Epistles which bear his namc,tiay be adopted as genuine, ch. iii. 7.; N% here, after mentioning the destruction of the old world by water, adds, " But the heavens and the earth which arc now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto . fivc against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly Mall. But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years. and a thousand years as one day," Psa. xr. 4. The Lord is not stack concerning his Promise, us some men moat slarknoss; but is long suffering to us ward; toot willing that any should perish, but that all should come to retientanee. Pint the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night ; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elennielts AO melt with fervent heat, and the earth also, and the works that are therein, shall be burnt up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dis solved, what rummer of persons ought ye to be in all holy con versation and godliness, looking for and basting unto time coating of the day of God wherein the heavens being on fit, -shall be dissolved, and the elements shall ~lt with ttrvent heat ! nevertheless we, accordion: to his promise, look for "-nese heavens and a new earth Wherein dwelleth righteous ness!" These are the authorities on which has been founded both the revolt-tit opinions, that the eud al' the world is not ::et, for its signs are not seen, and its salvation not accomplished, for all its nations must tint become a gospel world ; and that when the end shall come it will lie by the means of fire; effecting as ell the dissolution of all tempor.el systems, as also the punish ment of past offence., pnrifyinv, by its secreting power, the whole lin-verse, and asst the frail heart of man, tOr that peace and rest and thetsaew heaven is whioh it will become fitted to dnell ter user! The following is a description of a curious phenome non which was observed by the lion. Company's ships Fairlie and James Sibbald, on their late passage to Cal cutta :- '• On the Ist October our latitude at 14Con was 13 dee. 23 min. S. longitude SI deg. 0. min. E. we obsers (1 quantities of stuff floating nn the surface of the water, which had, to us, the appeitrance of sca-weed —but were quite astonished to find it burnt cinders, evidently volcanic. The sea was covered with it 'ln rim: the two nest days: our latitude on the 3d October :a noun was It) deg. 9 nib,. S. longittme s I deg. 20 Thin. 1. ; the surf.ree of the ;Watley ;vas so completely covered with the vol canic matter, that i should think it very unlikely to has c been drifted any considerable distance, its it is probable it %onld Nave brim much more scattered. In an old chart I had on board, there is a inthmarime volcano placed in the same longi tude atwl Irtitioile about N tleg. 30 min. S. and from the ;,;rent distance from any land where we Mond this curious phenottie nod, I think there can be no other ally of accounting for it, than the probability of a submarine volcano existing in that lit ighboii rhood." An article from Vienna, dint..l,lone '29, gives the fol lowing particulars of a most dreatlftil Aire : Accounts trout the circle of Chrilldiite say, that a dreadful tire which broke outat Holieinuentb, spite of the most active exertions to e•tingcish it, in which the Ilegistiates greatly di, tinguisdiert theteselves, has destroyed 211 au!uJu which %Ivry several public establishments, which, with the thiesLfruit gardens. were in it new boors the prey of the Omni's. A violent and contiaile.l rain oil the following dap; increAsed the distress, by mirletanining a great part of sahat remained standing. linuaireda-or families io tkis urliappy place, which oxperitliced a similar visitatiau iu 1;74, ate n u n languishinig without a roof to cover them, and deprived of every hope es. ceiit from the humanity anal benevolence or thur gent:rota • como Considerable . ditimge leas been done at New Orleans, in i-msequence of the rapid inundation et' the river; the whole of the suburbs was covered with water; anil the road was only passable in boats. PRICE 9 ¢d, OFFICIAL NARRATIVE • THE LATE MASSACRE OF CHRIsTIAHS AT ITONA. TRAWALATTOW OT A COPT OT AN ITATTAN T.ETTTTt A7)1111E1,1E111 111' THE ENOLTAH VICE-CONSUL ATV HAPAX I, TO TIE INEITEEN VIC E.CONS LAT l'A LER 3/0 ;•••• " SIR—I am trolly atii.cted at having to animater , to you the an - ital in this. port yesterday, an I continued arrival .n* oral coral fishing-boats, which has c had the g I furtnee tor escape from Ilona, bringing the dreadful news of the tra ge dy which has orearred in that barbaimi,. country. Seacist-tiiii, vessels had ass& inhled on the out part. and 20J on the roll,. consisting of Neapolitans, as well As Iilost• from Corsica llarmerite, under the English flag, for tlw purpose of carrying on the coral fishery allowed them by the tSiat'aili e.stablimliment, at Ilona, as well as by pa—ports front Ma: 03Thusiel, the Bri tish Consill-tieneral at Algiers; or from M. B. Eseeederit ' virtu. Consul at Ilona, appointed by the English. Consul. each . bu,d, paying 200 elOWIls to the establishment for that fishery. Having personally examined , several of the boat-masters, in order the better to ascertain the circumstances connected with the es ents, I comiiiiiiiivAtk the substance of the I11101 . 111:1- 11011 I have collected. " All the masters having immediately on their arrival at Bona paid the. 'hairs, and obtained the passports mentioned above,. hentied acd• proceeded to take tima tits magatiner...cii the British Commlate, who e supplies are stored, such prow l• siIIIIS as were necessary fur six months, as well as all articles. used in the coral fishery. They had tranquilly commenced their labours, and had deposited inilteir magazines what coral they had collected. " (hi the tad, the Feast of the Ascension of our Lorit, at ono in the morning, when the crews of all the boats were preparing to hear mass, a gun was tired from the Castle, and at the same moment there appeared about 2,000 infantry and cavalry, con sisting of Turks, Levatiters, and Moors. One part of-tiniest troops proceeded towards the country, and immediately ail other band advanced on tile river, where the fishing-beats were lying, at greater or less distauces from the sea, and fis•-d, as did also the forts, on the unfortunate tishers, who were partly on board their boats and partly on land, and massacred the whole of thewt. They took their Enek,li flags and tore them in pieces, trampled them under their tee t, :n al dragged them • along the ground as iii triumph. '• Those whaleippencil to be in the country savrd•thetnaclves by flight. They declare that they saw the troops pillage elie house of the English Consul, and the magazines containing the provisions, and the coral which had been fished. Mr. I•'rauces F.scredero, (lie brother of Use Consul, after seeing that nufirtu nate gentleman bound in the midst of the banditti,escaped with one (dour boat toasters, and afterwards set °Et for the isle of Caleta, proceeding by the way of Sardinia. The intelligence has filled our town with grief, as well on account of the absent men, who are believed to be massacred, as fee the loss of about seventy thousand ounces. " Throe other vessels have this moment arrived. The mas ter of the first relates, that on the arris al of a courier hostilities were suspended ; that the Vice-Consul, who still survived, WAS set at liberty, but was not permitted to leave the town ; that several masters and seamen, who, during the nar sarre, had taken refuge iii a magazine, were also set at liberty ; and that the Vice-Consul had advised them to put to sea well the heats which were without crews. The same master, who. rperrks Turkish, having asked a 'Turk the reason of these the latter replied, that the Dry of Algiers had declared war against the English, because the Admiral had made a demand. tending to burn the Algeriiie tieet. God knows vs liether be true! The master of the last boat, on board of w 114'11 vva. a master barber, an intelligent man, states, that the Castross had recommenced tiring, without the reitain of that proceeding being known. " In this state of uncertainty, I can as vet rmy notlritig poai. tive, hut (Aiwa to be able so to do wisest I shall bare received better explanations from the other boats. which were•4oll point of basting is ith woundril mess, stud cannut.iie leng iu dn. riving ; find shall not tail to interrogate the 'amblers as they ars iv..., provided I am permitttul by the Depot:scion, in miler to semi you tidier information on is subject of *melt high inter i st, and accounts of which you will doubtless have to transmit to those entitled to such conuusinication.--.4 :1111, •• SAL% AI)ORE MALATO, English Wiee-Cossal.!•. Trapaui, May,2B. A Low:sts.—lt is a remarkable, liistorico fact, that At giers, against which such formitWile preparations are sow mating in our harbours, was.the first tow a. that expo r enced the dreadful bombauttnent from ships of war. In the infancy of Louis the. Tourteenth's attval. - pima:, - the Barbary corsairs infested the Mediterranean, drew on-Ahem the vem;caate of that Monarch. It was on that occaion that a young man named Bernsrd lie naud, who had never seared at sea, ortl'whose genius the great Colbert had drawn from obscurity, proposed:to tae 'Ceuncil the construction of bomb-vessels le act a.raiust Algiers. The proposit ion was at first ridiculed; but the ping encouraged the young enand, preparations. being made, he %T:LSe.ent o wit - 11.411 e wi - 11.411e celebrated Du Quesne,.to • su pe ri tetul the perfismtance of aim own ?tamest inn . Ill . * en teriorize completely succeeded ; Renaud was honoured for hist . estructi vei r.vens ion ;and the Al:feria...l se attperut t Vessailles to solicit pardon and peace. They restoredrall their :Christian captives, and et en paid ajaVgemum of money to their conquerors. NEW KIND or PROXV.—It isAtated, that the Intl of Al;;iers, who was only acting as Deputy for a man. whom the people disliked, was strangled G# pnwy fur kis .auster. 01 ;16 • 474 k