THE SABBATH BELL.

To all civilized nations-to all who revere the name of Him who fixed the stars--to all who stand in awe of the great Architect of nature and of ourselves, the Sabbath Bell has a grateful sound. It strikes a deep and awful call to every man of reflection. It invites the good and pure in heart to an holy converse with the Deity, and it warns the obstinate and depraved to pause, and turn, and be received. After the toils of the secular week, the morning Sabbath Bell tolls in the ear of a busy people, to rest from their labors, and enjoy the calm which the great Almighty hath ordained; it rings to all nature the tones of peace and good will to

men.

The solemnities of our religion are variously observ. ed, with equal value to man. On the Sabbath morning, in the country, when Providence is breathing its smiles upon the earth, it is refreshing to hear the call of the country Sabbath Bell; to join the devotional procession as it wends in silence to the House that is dedicated to the God of the Universe. There is a holy charm in contemplating their simple and unadorned attire-emblematical of the spotlessness of the spirit within-their meek and unaffected devotion, and the quiet concern of the soul in things that speak of its everlasting peace.

Nor in a populous city like ours, is the spectacle less solemn. After the turmoil of business and the fascination of the week, the Sabbath Bell calls the venerable. and the great, the young, the gay and the beautiful, to remember Him who imparts his blessing to the just, and even to the unjust. The prosperous tradesman, and the opulent merchant, are called from their cares to devote a few hours to holy recreation.

They assemble in the holy house--all the diversified passions are lulled to rest-the business of the world is forgotten, and amidst the profound silence of the throng a voice proclaims, "The Lord is in his Holy Temple." Every heart and voice responds with conscious conviction, and hundreds unite in praise to the mighty Author

of their existence, and in humble supplications to the dread, yet still merciful Almighty.

The evening orisons in Spain are conducted with the utmost solemnity. A friend of ours has said, that the most solemn scene he ever beheld, was that of 4000 human beings on their knees in the Cathedral at Madrid, engaged in prayer. At the evening orison, however, when the bells toll the signal that the sun has departed to light up another world-suddenly every vehicle has stopped-every lip is mute, every tongue is hushedand from a vast nation there ascends to heaven one united prayer to Him who arched the firmament-to Him who wove the rainbow-whose unseen yet awfully pervading spirit alike lights up the sunbeam in the morning, and walks upon the pinions of the midnight storm.

S. L.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES-No. I.

BOMBARDMENT OF ALGIERS.

Written for the Monthly Repository, and Library of Entertaining Knowledge. If war is ever justifiable it is when national vengeance is aroused to scorch the pirate in his den, and to liberate the captives who have long and hopelessly groaned beneath the iron cruelty of their bondage. War, then, is not the demon, pale with malice or flushed with avarice and ambition; it is the angel of justice, terrible and strong, yet righteous, in awarding the retributions which blood and tears have called down from the very throne of Mercy itself upon a pirate city.

We have before us the graphic details of Lord Exmouth's bombardment of Algiers in the summer of 1816-details, which, although penned by one who stood amid the cloud of battle and breasted the iron storm of the Algerine batteries, have only just been given to the public eye. We only give a sketch of the battlescene in our own language; and, while we would not indulge in ourselves or promote in others a martial spirit, we will record the events, the spirit-stirring events of a few hours, as we would those of a capital execution, when stern justice had drawn together a vast multitude of criminals for the block and the gallows.

On Tuesday morning, August 27th, 1816, Algiers appeared to rise out of the waters like a fairy city before the English fleet, that had long struggled with contrary winds and calms. It appeared, at a distance, like a triangle-the base of which was formed by the heavy frowning batteries on the water-side, and the apex by the black outline of Fort Emperor, far up the mountain acclivity, hanging over the city like a portentous thunder-cloud. Between eight and nine o'clock in the morning Lord Exmouth sent in a flag of truce, offering certain terms, which, if acceded to, would avert the threatening storm, while the fleet, prepared for battle, proudly and slowly rode into the harbor. At fifty minutes past eleven the Queen Charlotte, Lord Exmouth's ship, telegraphed that the ships' companies would have time to go to dinner. Here many met for the last time on earth; they exchanged their friendly salutations, gave each other affectionate commissions to perform in the event of death-for well they knew that many must go to "that bourne from whence no traveller returns" if the flag of truce came back from an ineffectual mission.

At thirty minutes past one the Admiral annulled the truce, as no answer was deigned to his flag, and the signals of the Charlotte to the fleet were-are you ready? to which was returned the prompt response-we are ready. Up went the joyous flags, and, aided by a strong southern wind, the vessels of the fleet dropped into their stations under the very jaws of the batteries on the Mole. It was a moment of suspense. A shot might not be fired. The Dey might seize the last moment to succumb. The Queen Charlotte anchored within forty yards of the Mole-head batteries; the Leander, the Severn, the Glasgow, the Hebrus, the Superb, the Impregnable, the Albion, followed by others. of less weight of metal and by the Dutch squadron under Vice Admiral Capellan severally took stations, and every eye was turned to the Queen Charlotte for signals. It was thirty minutes past two, and the thunder of a single gun came booming from the shore-the report of another followed-it was enough-Lord Exmouth was seen on the poop of the Charlotte waving

s hat—a thrilling pause succeeds-a vivid flash envelopes his ship and the roar of a thousand pieces of artillery succeeds.

When the sun was gilding the western hills and the shadows of evening deepening in the vallies, it was a glorious and resplendent sight from the bombarding squadron to see the Algerine frigates, cut loose from their moorings, drifting out into the harbor in a blaze of liquid flame, their yards and masts making the sign of the fiery cross. The hemisphere was one lurid mass of fire and smoke, broken at intervals by a tremendous explosion at the batteries, and a redder glare for a moment. The smoky outline of the city was stained with the flame of a thousand houses. The darkness came on the adjacent land and sea, but Algiers and the bay were bright with the fires of destruction. shells from the fleet were projected into the city with a fearful precision, and the Congreve rockets described their rainbow arches of fire like passing meteors glaring athwart the dull eye of night.

The

But it was with no mock enemy that the British lion had to contend. The Impregnable, bearing the flag of Rear-Admiral Milne, suffered so severely that it became necessary to apprise Lord Exmouth of the state of the ship. More than two hundred officers and seamen, dead, dying and wounded encumbered her decks. The Granicus, sloop of war, took position almost between the Hebrus and the batteries, and, at every broadside of iron hail from the Hebrus, shuddered with the tremendous roar, and the concussion of the tortured air, until in mortal terror the captain sent on board begging that the Hebrus might stop her tremendous discharges and suffer the Granicus to face the battery singlehanded. The Queen Charlotte battered the Molehead into a vast heap of ruins. The thunder of the battle was terrible beyond conception. The voice of the cloud or the deep bellowings of the tempest would have been whispers in comparison. sel, charged with one hundred and fifty barrels of An explosion vespowder, was sent close under the batteries and fired, and yet its earthquake voice was not even noticed by many on board the fleet. At ten o'clock at night the

enemies' fire seemed to die away all along the Mole batteries. The ammunition of the fleet was getting low-the men were falling asleep at their guns and all were so deaf that it was necessary to scream in their ears to make them comprehend an order-the Hebrus had fired away one hundred and ten barrels of powder and more than three thousand round shot-the city was as light as noonday with its own flames-and, as the work seemed pretty well accomplished, Lord Exmouth gave the glad order to cease firing and the ships drew off to refit.

A treaty of peace was the result of this tremendous nalf-day's work, by which Christian slavery was for ever abolished in the Dey's dominions, and fifteen hundred miserable slaves, from nearly every christian country on earth, were restored to freedom at a cost of more than eight hundred killed and wounded in the bombarding fleet. Two transports were filled with those who were liberated from the cruel bondage of the Algerines. As they passed along the line of the Bri tish fleet their cheers were those of heart-rending gratitude. Tears flowed like rain down the cheeks of officers and seamen alike, when they saw those who had been rescued only by the thunder and the cloud and the flame of a terrible battle.

CABINET OF NATURE.

IMMENSE QUANTITY OF MATTER IN THE UNIVERSE; Or, Illustrations of the Omnipotence of the Deity.

Omnipotence is that attribute of the Divine Being, by which he can accomplish every thing that does not imply a contradiction-however far it may transcend the comprehension of finite minds, By his power the vast system of universal nature was called from nothing into existence, and is continually supported, in all its movements, from age to age.-In elucidating this perfection of God, we might derive some striking illustrations from the records of his dispensations towards man, in the early ages of the world-when he overwhelmed the earth with the deluge, which covered the tops of the highest mountains, and swept the crowded population