by the Protestants; yet here the Assembly would repeat, what they have elsewhere said with more solemnity, that "except in extraordinary cases, Presbyteries should be formed with geographical limits."

The annihilation of the Synod of the Chesapeake created by the Assembly of last year, and the formation of the Synod of Delaware this year, may not seem to have any necessary or intimate connexion with the sustaining of the Appeal and Complaint of the General Assembly's Second Presbytery of Philadelphia. The two subjects, however, have a close connexion; and therefore we shall give the proceedings in regard to the Synod of Delaware, in this place; although the latter, in point of time, did not take place till some time after the former. When the house was employed in forming the Synod, a member, with sarcastic pleasantry, remarked, "that the Assembly having recently brought forth a child, was now earnestly engaged in providing it with a nurse" -Beyond all peradventure, the Synod of Delaware was formed for the accommodation of the General Assembly's Second Presbytery of Philadelphia. But more of this hereafter.

The committee to whom was referred Overture, No. 8. viz.—An application to have the Synod of the Chesapeake dissolved, and also applications from the Presbyteries of Lewes, Wilmington, and Philadelphia Second, as constituted by the Assembly, to be constituted into a new Synod, made a report, which was accepted and laid on the table.

The report on Overture No. 8, and the petitions for the erection of a new Synod, was taken up and adopted, and is as follows, viz.

Resolved,

1. That the Synod of the Chesapeake be and the same is hereby dissolved.

2. That the Presbytery of East Hanover be and the same is hereby restored to the Synod of Virginia.

3. That the Presbyteries of Baltimore and of the District of Columbia, be and the same are hereby restored to the Synod of Philadelphia.

4. That the Second Presbytery of Philadelphia, and the Presbyteries of Wilmington and Lewes, be and the same hereby are erected into a new Synod, to be called the Synod of Delaware; that they hold their first meeting in the Second Church, Wilmington, the fourth Thursday in October next, at 10 o'clock, A. M., and that the opening sermon be preached by the Rev. James Patterson, or in case of his absence, by the oldest minister present.

In remarking on these extended extracts, we shall not, in our present number, make the comment as long as the text. How far we shall proceed hereafter, time will determine.

We begin with observing, that as our quotations show that there is discord and division of sentiment and opinion in the Presbyterian church, we think it of the first importance that the source and origin of this unhappy state of things should, if practicable, be fairly and distinctly laid open. For ourselves we have not a doubt, that the whole of it may be clearly traced to a disregard of the standards of our church -to a want of feeling that the doctrines and form of government contained in the book called The Confession of Faith of the Presbyterian Church, have a just claim to be sacredly regarded as a rule of faith and practice by all the members, and especially by all the officers of this church, so long as they remain connected with it. Such a sacred regard to our admitted Symbols of Christian faith and order, was once felt and acted on in our church. The Presbyterian church in the United States was founded and built up on these Symbols-sacredly regardedas the very basis and binding cement of the social compact. And it is on this ground that the Old School Presbyterians think they have a right to complain of innovations, and to resist them to the utmost. When they see, as they do see, that their opposers do not feel and act

under the influence of a strict regard to the standards of the church, taken in their obvious import-when they hear, as they do hear, much said about a more liberal mode of thinking and acting, and that sentiments not accordant with our Standards were held by this, that, and the other great and good man, and therefore ought not to form an objection against those who hold them-they reply-hold them and welcome, if you like them; but do not bring them into the Presbyterian church. We live in a free country. Go and form as many churches as you please, and make as many proselytes as you can, on the principles you have adopted. But do not call these acquisitions Presbyterian churches and Presbyterian professors; or if you do, attempt not to attach them to our body. We protest against this. You have no right to do any such thing; it is neither fair nor honest; it is an unrighteous attempt to break our social compact. Surely we possess the common right of all-the right to have a church to our mind. Such a church is the Presbyterian church-take it as it was founded, and as it remained till you perverted it. We will not yield to these perversions. We will resist them, and abide by the plain import of our constitutional charter, let the consequences follow as they may.

We felt greatly obliged to Mr. Patterson, of the General Assembly's Second Philadelphia Presbytery, for the statement he made in pleading the cause of that Presbytery in the last Assembly. He professed to give an account of the real origin of this Presbytery, and he did give it fairly and truly; and as he spoke of what he had himself felt, said, and done, he certainly ought to be considered as an unexceptionable witness. He stated explicitly and without reserve, that for a considerable time before the occurrence of the case of Mr. Barnes, which led to the formation of the Presbytery whose cause he advocated, he, and a number of his brethren, had felt themselves grievously controlled by the old Presbytery to which they belonged. He and his particular friends could not do as they wished; they could not get some young men licensed, who held opinions which a majority of the Presbytery thought erroneous; they were obliged to use secret measures for the purpose, and to send them away, and get them licensed elsewhere than in this Presbytery; and in many other respects he said they were rendered unhappy by the restraints they were under. They wanted more liberty, more scope for acting in a way that they thought would promote religion; but in this they were overruled by their brethren; and that here was the real origin of this Presbytery-We do not profess to give his very words, but we think we have not misrepresented him, nor made the case even as strong as it was made in his statement.

Now here is the very truth. There was a part of the old Presbytery that really wanted one formed on the principle of elective affinity; and in the process of what took place in the case of Mr. Barnes, they got what they wanted. But the matter did not end here. The very same spirit which they possessed, had also pervaded the Presbyterian church. It had not only infected those who in their hearts did not really and fully approve either of the doctrines or the government of the Presbyterian church, but it had a great influence on the minds of many who, so far as themselves were concerned, truly and cordially loved our Standards, in all their parts; but who thought, nevertheless, it was best to let those who were not quite orthodox, have their way a little, rather than make a noise about it; rather than disturb the peace of the church: and by the way, there is a large body of these peace men still in the church, who almost invariably vote and act against the old school

men, in order to preserve the peace of the church-they are "fierce for moderation."

Nor is it to be denied that the Old School men themselves have been chargeable with great remissness, or the want of vigilance and seasonable activity. Their reluctance to meet opposition, inclined them for a long time to let error and misrule run on, till, before they were aware, they found it had become dominant. They forbore and yielded, till it was manifest that they must either take a stand, or be turned out of their own house. Then they began to struggle; but they soon found to their cost, that they had to struggle with a giant, whom, instead of encountering in his childhood, as they ought to have done, they had permitted to grow till he possessed fearful powers. The case of Mr. Barnes, was the signal for calling these powers into general and decisive action-A recommendation to divide the Presbytery of Philadelphia, was a part of the first peace measure adopted in this notable case. When this was judged by the Synod to be inexpedient, the General Assembly took the matter into their own hands, divided the Presbytery, and formed one to their own liking, on the avowed principle of elective affinity. The Synod having first refused to receive this Presbytery, but having afterwards actually received it, yet in such a way as they thought would neutralize the destructive principle in question, the last Assembly said to them-you shall not do that. There shall be an elective affinity Presbytery in the city of Philadelphia; and since your Synod refuse to receive it, we will make an elective affinity Synod too; and thus at once provide a nurse for our pet child, and extend the principle of elective affinity to Synods, as well as to Presbyteries. At the same time, we will declare that such kind of Presbyteries as these, ought not to be formed, except in extraordinary cases. This will soothe and please the peace men. We are to be the judges when these extraordinary cases exist. We have one such Presbytery in New York; and another which, although formed in the old fashioned way, does as well as we could wish, in Cincinnati; and we have now established one, with a Synod to sustain it, in Philadelphia. This is pretty well for once. The peace men might take the alarm if we did more than this at present; and indeed it does not seem necessary to do more now. We appear to have a safe majority. When we find it necessary to our plans to plant an avowed elective Presbytery in any new position, we have only to declare that an extraordinary case has occurred, calling for such a Presbytery, and then to create it at once. We have fixed the two principles-that elective Presbyteries are sometimes necessary, and that the General Assembly can form them, in defiance of all that a Synod can do or say to the contrary.

Now we shall not be at all surprised, if we shall be charged with representing that the members of the General Assembly, or the body itself, made use, orally, of the very language which we have thus imputed to their acts. Be it so we have been slandered and misrepresented, till we care very little about it. We have a duty to perform, and with help from on high, we will perform it. We do not say or believe, that the whole of the majority in the last Assembly, deliberately intended to do what we have stated to be the tendency of what they actually did. But that some intended all this, and more, we firmly believe; and that they carried their plans, as fully as if they had all been delineated on paper. It is a trite adage, that actions speak louder than words; and we have only put a tongue into the acts of the General Assembly, in reference to the whole of the measures which preceded and attended the sustaining of the appeal and complaint of the General Assembly's Second

Presbytery of Philadelphia. Our readers are now in possession of our general views. We shall enter on some details in our next number, if life and health permit.

Literary and Philosophical Entelligence, etc.

a few minutes, packed in a box, and put the centre of Italy; on the south_the together in a very short time."

The Erial Plant.-The burning sands of hot climates, even at Karsfields, of the Cape of Good Hope, which are so arid and scorched that no water can be extracted from them, are the media in which the most succulent vegetables of which we have any knowledge, flourish and evolve; so deleterious indeed, is a wet season to their growth, that they are destroyed by it.

There are also various tribes of vegetables that are destitute of roots, and which can only be supported and nourished by the air, and by the moisture which the atmosphere contains. A large portion of the class Fuci, have no root whatever; and it is stated that the Erial Epidendron, (the Epidendron Flos Æris,) denominated rial from its extraordinary properties, and which is a native of Java, on account of the elegance of its leaves, the beauty of its flower, and the exquisite odour which it diffuses, is plucked up by the inhabitants, and suspended by a silken cord from the ceiling of their apartments, from whence it continues from year to year to put forth new leaves, to display new blos. soms, and exhale new fragrance, although fed out of the simple bodies before stated.

An Erial Steam Boat.-A gentleman in Cincinnati, by the name of Mason, has invented an ærial steam boat, in which he proposes to ascend on the 4th of July. It is said that the inventor is very sanguine, having already made (to him) a very satisfactory experiment.

The boat is thus described in a Cincinnati paper: "It is about ten feet long; the ribs being covered with silk, in order to render it very light. The engine, of two horse power, is placed in the middle, and turns four vertical shafts projecting over the bow and stern, into each of which is fixed four spiral silken wings, which are made to revolve with a sufficient velocity to cause the vessel to rise. Over the whole is fixed a moveable silken cover, designed to assist in counteracting the gravitating force, at the same time tending to assist in its propulsion. The whole boat, including the engine, weighs sixty pounds, and has cost about $300."

The correspondent of the New York Journal of Commerce, who dates from one of the United States ships, near Genoa, thus describes a remarkable phenomenon: "We stood off from the coast during the night, and this morning are almost becalmed in the centre of the Gulf of Genoa, with the views of land in every direction. In the north and east are the lofty snow sprinkled Appenines, stretching from the head of the Gulf, far down

Islands of Gorgona and Caprea, with Elba in the back ground, and in the north-west the Alps, lying upon the waters in fantastic outlines of blue, splendidly fringed with white and silver.

"For the first time in my life, I have been favoured with a sight of the optical phenomenon, of an image, cast upon a cloud, by the reflection and refraction of the rays of light through a hazy atmosphere. A vessel some ten or twelve miles distant, with hull down,' in sea phraseology, was distinctly seen several times in the course of two or three hours, to be surmounted by an inverted fac-simile, including the hull, having every appearance of a sail of the same kind traversing the sky upside down. The Island of Gorgona, also, was up in similar images, far above the horizon, the straight line of its water edge standing against the sky, while another of its head lands and summit of the same colouring as the Island, extended from it to the land itself. No one on ship-board, I believe, had ever witnessed a similar exhibition before.

"Another phenomenon of less singular character, has also occurred two or three times during the morning-the existence of two currents of air about the ship, at the same time, by which the lower sails have been for some minutes 'taken aback,' and been kept so, while the canvas above has been filled for an opposite direction."

pondent of the American Farmer writes Remedy for Ringworms.-A corresas follows: "After I had the tetter nearly twenty years on my hands, and had used a hundred dollars worth of tetter oint

ment, which took off the skin repeatedly without effecting a cure, a friend advised me to obtain some blood root, (called also red root, Indian paint, &c.) to slice it in vinegar, and afterwards wash the part affected, with the liquid. I did so, and in a diseased hand was as whole as the other." few days the scurf was removed, and my

A Pedigree of some Standing -The newspapers speak of a descendant of the great Chinese philosopher, Confucius, now living at the remote period from his ancestors of nearly two thousand four hundred years-for Confucius was contemporary with Pythagoras! Socrates came little after him. Here is a pedigree! When this gentleman hears of the old families in Europe, he must look upon them as peuple of yesterday. He is a magistrate of the humble order, but has no other rank. His descent, however, is so much respected, that, whenever he visits the neighbouring town, the governor orders the gates to be thrown open-an honour which the worthy magistrate has the modesty to decline.