either in my belief or practice, he will, and in his own time, and by his all-sufficient light and grace, enable me to rectify it, that I may have nothing left to do, but to acknowledge, and adore, his infinite and undeserved mercies to me, and particularly for having enabled me to see so much of my own weakness, and insufficiency, unworthiness, and misery, as to put my whole trust and confidence in his all-powerful grace, and unbounded goodness, through the infinite merits of our Blessed Redeemer."

As a final extract, he then writes, with singular felicity of expression:

"I would add, by way of encouragement, to persons in my unhappy condition, not to let the greatness of their guilt, nor the difficulties of repentance, deter, but rather invite them to the throne of Mercy, through the merits of our Divine Redeemer; for how dark and gloomy soever the prospect may at first seem, the discouraging mists will gradually disappear. We must call to mind, that there is mercy sufficient in God; merits enough in Christ; power more than sufficient in the Divine Spirit; room enough in Heaven; scope enough in the Evangelical promises; and the most endearing invitations in the Gospel, to bring men to God."

The reader must now draw his own conclusions; to whom it is suggested, that the declarations of a dying man are not lightly to be withstood. Our great Moralist, Dr. Johnson, though his wanderings had not been like those of Psalmanazar, yet breathed the same language; partook of the same spirit; and indulged the same selfrenunciation which the French penitent did; and, in his last solemn prayer, written only eight days before his death, looked, alone, “to the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.”

"Almighty and most merciful Father, I am now, as to human eyes it seems, about to commemorate, for the last time, the death of thy Son, Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Redeemer. Grant, O Lord! that my whole hope and confidence may be in his merits, and thy mercy: enforce and accept my imperfect repentance; make this commemoration available to the confirmation of my faith; the establishment of my hope; and the enlargement of my charity: and make the death of thy dear Son effectual to my redemption. Have mercy upon me, and pardon the multitude of my offences. Bless my friends have mercy upon all men. Support me by thy Holy Spirit, in the days of weakness, and at the hour of death; and receive me, at my death, to everlasting happiness, for the sake of Jesus Christ. Amen."

This was the Christian's suitable spirit at the season of Death. The spirit which becomes him, in Life, may be learned from the following

Summary of Religion, by SIR Matthew Hale.

HE that fears the LORD of Heaven and Earth, and walks humbly before Him, that thankfully lays hold of the message of redemption by JESUS CHRIST, and strives to express his thankfulness by the sincerity of his obedience; that is sorry with all his soul when he comes short of his duty that walks watchfully in denial of himself, and does not yield willingly to any lust or sin: he, that if he fails in the least measure from the confidence he hath in the merits of CHRIST, has not rest in his conscience, until he has made his peace by repentance; that is true in his promises, just in his dealings, charitable to the poor, and sincere in his devotion; and that will not deliberately dishonour GOD, although with the greatest security from temporal punishment: that hath his hope and his conversation in Heaven: that dares not to do any thing unjustly, although ever so much to his advantage : and all this because he firmly believes in Him that is invisible, and fears Him because he loves Him, fears Him as well for His goodness as His greatness. Such a man, whether he is an Episcopalian, or Presbyterian, or A nabaptist : whether he wears a surplice or not, whether he hears organs or not, whether he kneels at the Communion, or, for conscience' sake, stands or sits; he hath the life of Religion in him, and that life acts in him, and will conform his soul to the image of his Saviour, and go along with him to eternity, notwithstanding his practice or nonpractice of things indifferent.

ON THE OTHER HAND,

If a man fears not the Eternal GOD, commits sin with presumption, can drink to excess, lie, swear vainly and falsely, live loosely, break his promises: such a man, although he cry down Bishops, or cry down Presbytery, although he be re-baptised every day, or declaim against it as heresy: although he fast all the Lent, or feast out of pretence of avoiding superstition: yet, notwithstanding these, and a thousand more external conformities, or zealous oppositions of them, he wants the life of Religion.

ESSAY IX.

On the subject of some presumed alteration in the present relative positions of the two Planes of the Equator, and the Ecliptic, in reference to the Animal Remains, found in the PICKERING and ORESTON Caves, &c. RECENT discoveries, combined with many antecedent facts, have demonstrated the existence, in past ages, of various carnivorous animals, in this Island, which are now confined to the Torrid Zone. To account, satisfactorily, for the presence of these animals in England, has been deemed a subject attended with difficulty. It appears to be an undeniable fact, not only from the Plymouth Caves, but from the Pickering Caves, (so luminously commented upon by Professor Buckland, Philosophical Transactions, 1822) as well as from some others, that the tiger, the hyæna, the elephant, the rhinoceros, the hippopotamus, &c. once absolutely abounded in England, and this opinion derives corroboration from the bones and teeth, also, of these animals, so often found in diluvial soils.

A well-written article, on the subject of Dr. Buckland's paper, appeared in the Quarterly Review, for November, 1822, and as the solution there stated, of the above difficulty, is that which has often been advanced, and is pretty currently received, I shall venture to consider its force; and, if the position should be disproved, which is there laid down, the writer doubts not but that the respectable reviewer himself, should these slight remarks chance to meet his eye, will preserve a mind open to conviction, and will rejoice in the advancement of truth, even though it should be attended with the contravention of one of his own passing, perhaps not deliberate, opinions.

The reviewer observes (p. 473,) "But a difficulty, and the greatest of all difficulties, now meets us, the solution of which, he (Professor Buckland') does not attempt; we mean, that of accounting for certain genera of animals once inhabiting a climate in which we know they cannot now exist. To explain their existence in such a situation, appears to us, to require something more than a difference of species; it requires a change of climate, and the only means that we know of, sufficient to account for such a change, and which would effectually produce it, is, a change in the position of the poles of the earth, or, of the inclination of its axis to the plane of its orbit."

Upon reading the above sentiment, the writer of this Essay was startled, as it was a question on which his mind had often revolved, and never without recognizing, and admiring, the unspeakable wisdom manifested in the present established relative positions of these two planes, and which (it was thought) could not have been altered, unattended by the most disastrous consequences. The importance of the discussion (at this particular conjuncture, when so many recent circumstances have directed public attention to the subject) will, it is hoped, secure the reader's favourable predisposition, especially, as truth, in its ultimate result, can alone, be elicited, by the separate contributions of many. An attempt will first be made to show, by inferential reasoning, that the probability is against any such alteration as that under consideration; and, secondly, there will be an attempt to prove, that no such alteration has, or could, have taken place, without subverting the harmony of the world!

The inclination of the poles to the plane of the ecliptic, is 23 degrees, and it is an authorized presumption,

from the perfections of the Creator, that this arrangement is the best possible adaptation to the state of man. Human beings, in all their mechanical contrivances, advance from one step to another; now overcoming an impediment, and then determining on an improvement, with imperfection at last stamped on their loftiest achievements; but this progression, and these fluctuations are not applicable to Deity, who, if He manifested any aberration in wisdom, would forfeit his chief attribute, and, consequently, cease to be Infinite.

Burnet, in his fanciful "Theory of the Earth," displayed great zeal, and wasted much ingenuity in attempting to establish this alteration in the poles of the earth, but the edifice which he attempted to erect, on a foundation of straw, vanishes before the first breath of cool philosophy. One of the three following conditions of the earth, is alone supposable. First, there must have been a position of the earth's axis, forming an angle of ninety degrees with the plane of the ecliptic, which plane of the ecliptic, would, in that case, have been coincident with the plane of the equator: or, secondly, the poles must have coincided with the plane of the ecliptic, on which supposition, the ecliptic and equator would be at right angles with each other; or otherwise, as the remaining alternative, the inclination of the earth's axis to the plane of the ecliptic, must have been in some oblique angle, between 0' and ninety degrees. The consequences will be briefly considered, which would attend on each of these positions of the earth.

If the axis were to retain a right-angular position with the plane of the ecliptic, (such as was supposed by Burnet) the consequences would be ; the non-existence of all alteration of the seasons; no deviation from equal day and night, through the whole year; the sun, without amplitude, uniformly rising and setting at the