The Sun.
London, England, 1837-10-24 00:00:00

THE ABERDEEN SYNOD.

There were some strange doings in the Synod on Tues-
day week, on the question of appointing a day of thanks-
giving for the present abundant harvest. An overture, re-
commending that the 15th of November should be set apart
for that solemn purpose was introduced by the Rev. Mr.
Murray, of the North Kirk, Aberdeen, .who edified his
reverend brethren with a new theory of thanksgiving. He
set forth that God was more glorified by the thanks of a
whole parish, than by the praise of the parishioners indivi-
dually, and " more by a Preibyterial thanksgiving, than by
the thanksgiving of single parishes ; and by the thanks of
the whole. Synod, at once, than of the Presbyteries sepa-
rately—just as a national thanksgiving would be more glo-
rifying than a Synodical thanksgiving." It was on this
ground he wished to have a day appointed. But Mr. Mur-
ray was running too fast, as he soon found. There was
a prior question of great importance to be settled. Like
Imogen in the play, the Synod " were poor in thanks,
and scarce could spare them." They had first "to ba-
lance in their mind whether the goodness of God had
been 'suffiCiently shown in the case of their parishioners to
warrant tbem in calling for a day of thanksgiving at all."—
" An overture of this kind," said the Rev. Mr. Bisset of
Bourtrie, " should only be brought forward when the bless-
ing was not merely in prospect, but has been actually re-
ceived. He deplored that the Rev. Gentlemen should
have brought forward such an overture." The Synod did
not object to a day of thanksgiving if the crops were once
fairly in, and the abundance proved. They even admitted
that the prospect of abundance was good ; " but it was
only in prospect yet, and there never was a time when the
period of harvesting differed so much.",.
Mr. Paul, of
.Tullynessle said, that " in those parts of
the country of which he knew a little, the farmers were
cutting a most abundant crop; but it was exposed yet. He
knew that the bore had been hurt by a severe frost, and
that the reason why the corn escaped was, that there was
nothinj in the ear to destroy."
This was conclusive. The Synod adopted the prudent
and cautious eourse'pointed out by Mr. Robertson, of El-
len,
,f waiting till the first Wednesday of December, when
the result. of the harvest would be fully ascertained ; and
" individual clergymen might then give the day the charac-
ter, either. of
.fasting and humiliation, or of thanksgiving and
rejoicing, as suited the particular circumstances of their
parishes !"
Could any thing be conceived more calculated to turn
religion into ridicule, and -bring the Ministers of the Gos-
pel into contempt,. than such a discussion ? The very
idea of a body of men sitting down to deliberate as to-
whether the goodness of God had been sufficiently mani-
fested in particular parishes to call for thanks, would be
irresistibly ludicrous, were it not exceedingly profane.—
Scotsman.

The British barque Ida, Captain Arthur, from
Kingston, Jamaica, bound to London, was boarded by our
news boat, T. H. Smith, when our news collector was in-
formed that the ship experienced a severe hurricane on the
the 3d ult. in the Gulf, that all her sails were blown to
pieces, the caboose, boats, and twenty of .the crew washed
off the decks. The Captain had temporary sails bent, and
With five men succeeded in bringing the ship to anchor off
Abseeom, where he . obtained assistance from the shore,
shortly after which he.wai boarded by the pilot boat Mary
*fa a pilot put on board.—Montreal Gazette, Sept. 14.
''','llie.-heavY,crops'O'r grass at this season of the year
and the delightful 'weather to keep up the growth, are un-
paralleled in the memory of living man, " and yet," says a
correspondent, "_the price of butter is nearly as high as in
the spring of the year, when the scarcity of cattle-fodder
was really alarming."—Bath Herald.
. . _ _

. The late Sir Roger Greisley, Baronet, whose death
we announced a few days since, was the eighth Baronet of
the name, and in June, 1821, was married to Lady Sophia,
youngest daughter of the Earl of Coventry, by whom he
has left no issue, and the Rev. Nigel Greisley, his cousin,
is become the present and ninth Baronet. The family is
very ancient. Roger de Toeney, standard-bearer of Nor-
mandy, had two sons, Roger and Nigel, who accompanied
William the Conqueror to England, the former of whom,
at the time of the general survey (14th William I.), pos-
sessed nearly 150 lordships, whereof Stafford being his re-
sidence, he thence surnamed 'himself and his ancestors of
the noble race of the Staffords, of whom Humphrey was
created Duke of Buckingham by Henry VI., who" took
precedence of all Dukes in England and Ireland, the Royal
Dukes excepted. Nigel, the youngest son, had Drakelow,
and many other estates in Derbyshire and Staffordshire ;
and it appears by Domesday Book that he was the direct
ancestor of the family.
On Thursday afternoon last, three of the workmen,
two masons and a labourer, employed in renovating the
interior of the Cathedral of Glasgow, were fortunate
enough to light upon a hidden treasure of 166' pieces of
gold coin, chiefly of the reign of King Robert the 'Bruce,
and his English contemporary King Edward. Although
a number of their fellow-workmen were employed quite
at hand, the trio managed matters so well, as not only
to keep the coins to themselves, but also the subject of
the discovery. Upon quitting their employment in the
evening, they readily found a highly-respectable jeweller
in Argyll-street, who purchased the prize for 841. sterling!
The coins were in a high state of preservation; and had
been carefully deposited on their edges at the base of one
of the columns, immediately under the pavement, and that
without any inclosure. It is to be hoped that these re-
cords of long by-past days will be preserved, and not, as
we have reason to know has been the fate of a consider-.
able part of their sterling value, be unceremoniously melted.
—Glasgow Courier.
On Wednesday evening, a little boy, apparently
about three years old, was found in Watling-street, and
now remains under the care of Henderson, engineer of the
head fire station in that street. The child is unable to
state its name or residence. The appears no reason to
suppose it was wilfully deserted, for it is in good condition,
and tolerably well dressed. It had on a brown merino
frock and tippet, with good linen pinafore on, cotton-
printed trousers under the frock, and a pair of nearly new
boots. Notice of the finding of the child has been posted
at the Exchange and the Mansion-house, but up to Satur-
day afternoon no claimant had appeared. It is a blue-eyed
pretty-looking child, and seems quite happy and content- in
its present quarters. There is no mark on the linen.