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"We expect to sail in about a week, so that I can hardly hear from you again on this side the water; but let me have a line from you now and then, while I am in London. I expect to stay there at least a twelve-month. Direct your letters to be left for me at the Pennsylvania Coffee-house, in Birchin Lane, London. My love to all, from, dear sister, "Your affectionate brother, "B. FRANKLIN. "P. S. April 25. We are still here, and perhaps may be here a week longer. Once more adieu, my dear sister."

It appears that this sister Douse was aged, infirm, and destitute, and therefore had strong claims upon the sympathy and liberality of her relatives. And how does her philosophic brother proceed on these premises? Does he express any fraternal sympathy? No. He might have spoken as tenderly, had the subject of the letter been an old family drudge, or even a worn-out horse. Does he send her pecuniary aid from his own already ample resources? No; not a word of this. But yet he is lavish of his good advice; and to what does he advise her? Forsooth, not to sell those superfluities by which she might procure the money which he does not see fit to offer her. "Be thou warmed and be thou comforted," says he; "yet, my dear sister, do not expect from my bounty, and do not procure for yourself the means of warmth and comfort." But Dr. Franklin, if not himself beneficent, like a skilful engineer, brings fuller fountains of beneficence to play upon his poor sister. Mrs. Mecom is urged to pay her assiduous attention. Cousin Williams is directed to continue his care. A loud appeal is made to the selfishness, (a principle in which Franklin's own experience seems to have given him great confidence,) of that person, (an ill-fed domestic, we presume.) And we cannot but hope that, blessed with a sister's frequent visits, a cousin's constant care, and a discontented servant's all-grasping cupidity, sister Douse finished her mortal sojourn without feeling the want of her brother Benjamin's advice or aid. Expressions of affectionate interest abound in the letters to his sisters; but they seem too mechanical and business-like to have been prompted by deep feeling, and are sufficiently accounted for by the following judicious remark in one of those letters: "The more affectionate relations are to each other, the more they are respected by the rest of the world."

The best letters in this collection are those addressed to two ladies, with whom Franklin commenced a correspondence when they were young girls, and continued it after they became matrons. The first of these ladies was Miss Catharine Ray, afterwards wife of Governor Green, of Rhode-Island. She seems to have been a sprightly, goodhumored girl, ready, in the abundance of her philanthropy, to make any man happy for the time being, whether he were single or married, young or old. Franklin was captivated by her gaiety of spirit, and her devoted affection to himself,-then so far advanced in age, as to make the attachment of a young lady a high compliment to his mental graces. She seems not to have been a lady of cultivation,— hardly one of decent education; for we find the following rather suspicious comment on her orthography in one of his letters to her. "As to your spelling, do n't let those laughing girls put you out of conceit with it. 'Tis the best in the world; for every letter of it stands for something." Franklin's earlier letters to her are written in a playful

style, full of compliments, so artfully set forth as to show that he had already sunk the mechanic in the courtier.

The other lady with whom he corresponded was Miss Stevenson, daughter of his hostess at London, and afterwards the wife of Dr. Hewson. She was an amiable, interesting, intelligent, and highly educated young lady, in whose progress in knowledge and prospects in life, Dr. Franklin took a deep interest. His letters to her are of a much more serious character than those to the mirthful Miss Ray. They are such as a judicious and well-informed parent would write to a daughter, whose mind and morals were his chief care. He gives her good advice as to her reading, study, and conduct; writes interesting sketches of his residence at France; and occasionally discusses literary and moral subjects. Very nearly one half of the letters are addressed to her.

The miscellaneous papers, which occupy the last eighty pages of this volume, seem to have been copied from odd pieces of waste paper found under Franklin's table. The first of them is a paper of such memoranda as a man holds in his hand to refresh his memory when about to address a deliberative assembly; and neither of them, (with a single exception) could ever have been issued from the press by any but an incorrigible book-maker. The exception is the Craven Street Gazette, in which the pompous annunciations of Court movements are ridiculed by a journal of the trivial household affairs at Mrs. Stevenson's mansion in Craven-street, drawn up in an equally pompous style.

Though no American can read this volume without interest, we must, in conclusion, express our willingness that Mr. Sparks may lose money by this act of literary sacrilege; and remind him that, unless he repent of this before he dies, every one of his billets-doux, every college theme, every thing which he would the most anxiously desire to bequeath to the flames, may, through the officiousness of his surviving admirers, be presented to a frowning public.

The Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States; or, of its present Organization and Influence.

an Account

It is not, perhaps, generally known that the Methodist Episcopal Church in our country is a perfect hierarchy. It is, in fact, an imperium in imperio. Its ministers are not only the religious guides of the people; but, by their habits of domestic intercourse with them, and by the strong influence which reputed sanctity exerts over uncultivated minds, they are able to sway the sentiments and actions of the Methodist body with regard to the character of private or public men, of political measures and judicial decisions. This influence, if exerted by each clergyman without concert with his brethren, would be comparatively harmless. But their church is so organized, that it is perfectly easy to concentrate all its clerical influence, and to give it a simultaneous direction. The whole country is cantoned out into twentytwo Conferences, in each of which there is an annual meeting of all the itinerant preachers within its limits. All these Conferences are united in the General Conference, which meets once in four years, and is composed of one delegate to every seven members of the annual

conferences. The property of all the Methodist meeting-houses is vested in the General Conference; so that they can fill the pulpits as they please, and promulgate from them whatever they please. The General Conference has also under its control a very large and rapidly increasing fund, derived from the profits of the Book concern, the managers of which are publishers, and the itinerant preachers booksellers to the whole Methodist denomination. The people, who build the churches and pay the preachers, have no voice whatever in the occupancy of the churches or the location of the preachers. The ministers are appointed to their several stations at the Annual Conference; and we have known instances in which the united petition of a society and a minister, that he might be located among them, has been disregarded. And there is nothing to prevent a society's being burdened for two years with a peculiarly obnoxious minister. Thus, had the NewEngland Conference, a few weeks since, thought fit to station E. K. Avery at Fall River, within a stone's throw of the scene of his villany, that outraged village would have been compelled to bear the infliction.

All the preachers receive their instructions from, and are amenable to, the Annual Conferences; and these last are under the control of the General Conference. Thus any plan of operation recommended by the latter may with the greatest ease be carried into effect from Maine to Georgia. Nor has this Conference always confined its deliberations to ecclesiastical subjects. At its meeting at Pittsburg, in 1828, the question of the then pending presidential election was tried, and decided in favor of the present incumbent. This decision, emanating from what the Methodists deem the most august assembly upon earth, must have added vast numbers to Jackson's party,-may even have turned the scale in his favor.

Now the Methodists have an undoubted right to yield up their property, nay, their consciences, to the control of their clergy. But is not the existence of a body of men in the midst of us, endowed with so much power, fraught with danger? A Methodist party in politics might easily, may very soon, be raised. We confess that we have never stood much in awe of Masons, or felt any sympathy with Anti-Masons; for the Masons are a small minority of voters; they have no grand national treasury, nor are their means of communication so direct and easy as is commonly imagined. We think the Methodists a much more formidable body. Their clergy are, we doubt not, as a body, eminent for their disinterestedness and piety. But power is a dangerous possession, especially in the hands of those who have no right to it, and by such men, almost uniformly abused. We are, therefore, glad to hear the alarm sounded, and especially, glad that it was first sounded in their own camp. Little was known or suspected of the Methodist hierarchy, till a secession had taken place from their own body, not on account of difference in doctrine, but because the seceders believed the ecclesiastical constitution of the Episcopal Methodists irrational, unscriptural, and uncongenial to the spirit of our republican institutions. Their first church was organized at Baltimore, in 1827. They have now in their connexion about one hundred itinerant preachers. Besides the associated societies to which these minister, there are, in different parts of the country, many independent societies, which retain the rites and doctrines of the Methodists, but

have seceded from them on account of their form of government. There are two societies of these Protestant Methodists, (as they call themselves,) in this city; one worshiping in the Hancock schoolhouse, the other in the western part of the city, consisting chiefly of colored people.

We have not yet mentioned the pamphlet at the head of this article, because we wanted to discuss the subject, and had but little to say of the merits or demerits of the book. Its style is vehement and rather vulgar. Its object is to inflame the public mind against the Episcopal Methodist Church, and it is well adapted to that end. It is one of that kind of pamphlets that obtain extensive circulation in the Middle and Western States, by means of tin and other pedlars; and we doubt not, that it will be read with avidity. Its anonymous author handles metaphors without gloves, as our readers will perceive by his eccentric, mock-heroic concluding paragraph, with which we will conclude our article.

"Fellow-citizens,-whether Catholics, Episcopalians, Lutherans, Calvinists, Methodists, Quakers, or of any other sect or denomination, no matter by what name you are known, other than that of citizens of Republican America,-behold in our land a monster of less than seventy years growth, with six bishops for its head, with upwards of two thousand traveling preachers as its arms, five hundred thousand communicants for its body, thirty-six thousand annual increase as its legs, and an influence over three millions as its feet, Jesuitically stalking abroad over our land, and undermining, by an union of temporal and spiritual, civil and ecclesiastical power, the grand corner-stone of our civil and religious liberties; benighting the intellectual faculties of man with a cloud of superstition, seven fold more dense than that, which, during the dark ages, benighted Europe. Again, we say, fellow-citizens, of whatever denomination ye may be, behold this monster, with a power fast approaching that which once enabled ministers and preachers to sway, with an unparalleled despotic power, every sceptre in Europe -unite without distinction, and with an iron grasp, seize it, ere it entombs your liberties, and offer it a sacrifice at the shrine of your sovereignty."

A Lecture before the Boston Young Men's Society, on the subject of Lotteries. By George William Gordon.

To this lecture of forty pages is added an appendix of an equal number. The whole matter is composed chiefly of facts and speculations tending to show the baneful effects of lotteries, whether considered in relation to society or to individuals. We profess to be among the number of those who consider lotteries as great evils, and we are grateful to Mr. Gordan for his labors.

POLITICS AND STATISTICS.

THE PRESIDENT'S TOUR. On the 6th of June, the President of the United States left Washington, on a long-contemplated visit to the Northern and Eastern States. He was accompanied by Mr. M'Lane, Secretary of State, Mr. Cass, Secretary of War, and Major Donaldson, his private Secretary.

At half past 12 on the same day, a committee of citizens of Baltimore, accompanied the members of the city council, officers of the army and navy, and others invited on the occasion, to the number in all of 150 to 200, proceeded in a train of carriages, for the purpose of meeting the President at the intersection of the Rail-Road and Washington Turnpike, about six and a half miles from the city. Soon after the train had been arranged for the return, the President approached. On alighting, he was received by General Smith, chairman of the committee. While salutations were interchanging between the parties, the train was thrown back until the centre car, which had been specially set apart for the President's accommodation, was brought in front of the place where he stood. As soon as all were seated, the locomotive was again put in motion, and in about thirty minutes the long train was conveyed to the Three Tuns." On leaving the rail-road carriage, the President took his seat in an open barouche, with General Smith and James H. McCulloh, Esq. His suite followed in another barouche, and the gentlemen of the committee came after in carriages. He passed to the lodgings prepared for his reception at the Baltimore House, where he was duly received and welcomed by the Mayor of the city, and the committee deputed to perform that duty on behalf of the citizens.

The next day was spent in giving and receiving visits among the citizens.

On the 8th, the President left Baltimore in the steam-boat Kentucky, and proceeded with a numerous escort of citizens, for Philadelphia. On his passage, he stopped about twenty minutes at Chesapeake city, while the barges

were preparing to proceed through the canal. At Delaware city, the President and suite were received into the steam-boat Ohio, and at New-Castle they disembarked with military salutes, where the President was received by Governor Bennett, of the state of Delaware, and committees and delegates from Wilmington and all the towns in the vicinity. Again they embarked amid the salutes of the guns. About five o'clock, the President landed at the Navy Yard, below Philadelphia, under a national salute, and was cheered with the oft-repeated plaudits of the people. He proceeded along the defile prepared, escorted by Commodore Barron and Mr. Horn, followed by the marshals, by the committee of sixty, with their appropriate badges, and the other committees also with their distinctive emblems. Before he left the Navy-Yard, he was received into an open barouche, and was accompanied by Messrs. Horn, Worrell, and Wager. The density and anxiety of the crowd assembled at the gate, with the number requesting to shake hands with the General, prevented, for a considerable period, the President's egress. He was then preceded by the military escort, and followed by the committees in carriages, to the City Hotel. Every part through which he rode was filled with immense crowds of spectators, and every house, from which a view might be taken, was filled to excess by the most respectable ladies and gentlemen. His onward progress was marked by the repeated congratulations of the citi

zens.

A more formal reception took place at Philadelphia on Monday, the 10th. From 9 to 12 o'clock, the President remained at the State House, to receive the compliments of his fellow-citizens. At 12 he proceeded, on horseback, to Arch-street, where he reviewed the military, which was assembled in great numbers. During his stay in Philadelphia, he visited Fair Mount.

On the morning of the 11th. after receiving at his lodgings the visits of an immense crowd of visiters of all ages,

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