with the fury of the flames, and at the -moment when all success depends upon a union of their efforts, then are they the most discordant. The other night exemplified the truth of this in a most marked degree-a premium, no doubt, adds to the inducement to hasten forward the Engines; but that is a small part of the business, for you have soon many more Engines than you require, or have water for; and in place of two or three well supplied, according to the circumstances of the case, you have a whole dozen of them running counter to, and depriving each other of the requisite supply of water, much of which is not only consequently wasted, but perhaps also no Engine has a sufficient supply to enable it to work with effect; of course, the exetion of all is diminished, and the character of a good Engine too aften lost. The most effectual remedy is to abolish all names, or marks, that distinguish Company Engines, and form the whole into one body upon military principles: a Regiment, as it were, would be formed of Firemen, and the men, as in companies, would be attached to the different engines, which would be, like them, numbered. The men of each company, or engine, classed according to their individual qualifications under intelligent men as noncommissioned officers, so as to form a regular gradation and chain of responsibility, from the highest to the lowest, would enable you to work an engine with all the regularity of a piece of artillery, and men could be easily detached on particular services, such as to strengthen the operations of a particular engine, &c. as occasion might require : thus a great and combined effect would at once be given to the whole, in a way that must ensure success, and prevent accidents. The second evil is the waste of water occasioned by hand-carrying, which of itself creates a great confuJan. 1814. sion. If the remedy above suggested is adopted, this will, as a subordinate part of it, be at the same time remedied; for the combined interest of the whole, will lead the firemen to join their united pipes to the fire cock, which is often beyond the reach of those of any individual engine, and, of consequence, a more regular supply of water will, without waste or confusion, be brought to the point of action, and be distributed under the direction of the superintending officer, to such engines as he may judge most serviceable, either from superiority in their equipment or their position. The third complaint is, for most part, a want of ladders, and the means of obtaining a sufficiently elevated situation for the man at the directing pipe. A few long ladders should always be in readiness at the public expence; and, at the least, three ladders of moderate, but equal lengths, should form a part of the stores of every engine. These ladders, besides being useful to aid the distressed, may at once be converted into a stage, of the description I have above alluded to. To effect this, it is only necessary to erect these three ladders with their tops locked into each other, as soldiers do their muskets by the ramrods when they pile arms. For security sake, sockets with short pikes may be made to put on the feet, to prevent the ladder slipping on the causeway; and an eye may be so made with a knee at the top, to serve the double purpose of fixing them more firmly, and strengthening the director's arm by means of a pin, whose small end would pass through these united eyes, while the upper end may be formed with a longitudinal short bed for the support of the directing pipe. The limits of a letter forbid too much detail, but I felt it a duty I owed to humanity and my fellowcitizens, not to withhold for a moment any ideas which occurred to me as likely i likely to be useful, merely because I - had not taken leisure to digest and arrange them in a more full and perfect form. I have addressed this letter to you, as composing those Societies whose ⚫ attention being more exclusively directed to cases of fire, may be most likely to be able to turn them to advantage, and shall only add, that I shall be most happy to contribute all the aid in my power in bringing an arrangement of such importance to perfection. At the same time allow me to suggest the propriety of having a committee named for the consideration of it, as I am sure that many useful hints would be sent in by individuals who are only prevented from offering them by the want of a proper channel for communicating them. I have the honour to be, Sir, Your most obedient humble servant, Drumseugh, 17th Feb. 1813. German Notices of Deaths. M ARRIAGES, births, and deaths, are announced in the Dutch and German papers in a very peculiar manner. The parties joined in wedlock, insert a notification of their Junion subscribed by their names; the husband signs an account of the wife's. accouchement, filled with expressions of joy, when he has to state that she is well, and has presented him with a handsome child; but the notices of deaths are the most interesting, as they seem in some measure to reflect the simple and homely manners of the country. They are always signed by the surviving party, sometimes by the whole of the children, and are usually so written as to evince sentiments of sorrow and pious resignation in the subscribers. We have extracted the three following, because, besides giv ing our readers an idea of the manner in which these notices appear, they are in some measure connected with the state of affairs in Holland. The first is one of the deaths which occurred in the barbarous massacre of Woerden; and the two last, one of which is from Admiral VERDOORN, are melancholy instances of the effects of that system of tyranny and ambition which has devoted so large a portion of the population of Europe to destruction. "As my much loved husband, HENRI FREDRIK ANTOINE GIUNTA D'ALBANI, grenadier in the first company of Orange guards, marched hence on the 22d of November 1813, with his battalion to Woerden, where he fell on the fatal day of the 24th, in the 29th year of his age, in the cause of his country and Orange, I have, respecting this loss, so very grievous to me and all his relatives, to make known, that yesterday his eldest brother was by the side of his grave, fully convinced of his death, and there saw his body deposited in the earth. Of the sympathy and condolence of all I am assured, more particularly on account of my fatherless infants, for whom my heart is broken. ➡A. VAN DERHEEM, widow of H. F. A. GUINTA D'ALBANI.-Gravenhage, December 5, 1813." "The long dreaded news of the death of my dear son, PIETER ADRIANN, first lieutenant of the horse artillery, is now so confirmed, that I can no longer entertain any doubts of it, although the day when, and the manner how he fell, is unknown to me, farther than that it happened last year in the retreat from Moscow. He was, on account of his brave and noble character, beloved by all who knew him. He was respected for the progress made in his studies by his preceptor, and for his military conduct by his superiors of all ranks. That the loss of so worthy a son, in the 23d year of his age, is most se vere to me, every father and friend to humanity must feel, but notwithstanding, I beg to be excused from their letters of condolence.-G. VERDOORN, admiral. Amsterdam, December 8, 1813." "I received, on the 13th instant, together with seven children, very unexpected joy, by the return of my dear son, R. J. VELTHUYS; and we had double reason to thank GOD, that after so many extraordinary dangers, and after having many times braved death, as cannoneer in the third cohort, we saw him at last return to us, though in the state of a beggar, in consequence of a severe journey from Leipsic on foot: how overjoyed we then were, every father and every family may easily conceive; but how great and severe was our grief, when we beheld that brave youth, whose sufferings were greater than he could endure, after having remained four days in the family, pass in the bloom of his years from time to eternity! Severe was this loss after so great a joy; but yet I wish with a grateful heart, to thank GOD that I beheld him die.-R. J. VELTHUYS, for myself and in the name of my 7 children. -Amsterdam, December 17, 1813." Account of VANDER KEMP, the Christian Missionary in southern Africa. Short distance from Algoa Bay, Cape of Good Hope, Vander Kemp, a man about 70 years of age, has collected together between two or three hundred Hottentots, to whom he preaches the gospel. If ardour in religion, amounting almost to bigotry, if self-denial, and a renunciation of social comforts, even of all earthly enjoyments, supported by a high degree of enthusiasim, and by very extensive learning; if these preperties can render a missionary worthy of respect and esteem, then is Vander Kemp most truly so. Even the history of his early life is interesting. In his youth he was an officer in the army, but contracting a marriage beneath him, he was obliged to quit. the service, and as a married man applied himself to the study of Physic with so much diligence, that notwithstanding his total want of all previous knowledge in this science, he attained the degree of Doctor in three years, and was appointed an army physician. Some years after, in crossing the river Maese with his wife and children, the boat unfortunately overset, and all his family were lost; he alone escaped by almost a miracle. this moment his whole soul was absorbed in religious ideas, and he soon exchanged the science of medicine for that of theology. He studied particularly the ancient and the oriental languages, and soon commenced a writer in his new profession; but his works, on account of their mystical tone and terrifying prolixity, did not obtain him many votaries in Holland, so that in 1780 he went to England, where he succeeded better. When the Cape was taken by the English, he resolved, although at the age of 60, to go as a missionary to the Caffres, and being ordained at Oxford, he arrived there in 1797. After two years spent among the people, in which he admits that he had not accomplished much towards the spreading of christianity, the war broke out. He went for a while to the Cape town, but at his return to the Caffres he was not favourably received, and was again obliged to quit their territories. At this time the country was infested by a number of vagrant Hottentots, who during the war had gained their living as partizans plundering either side. These people were collected together by Vander Kemp, for the purpose of instructing them in the christian religion, in which he was assisted by by an Englishman named Read. But however laudable and meritorious appeared the plan of the undertaking, the utility which might have been and ought to be derived from it, was lost by the over pious spirit or proud humility of its head. It is true, that these Hottentots were nominally quiet, and kept in some order; yet often under pretence of the chace, they wandered about armed, the government (then English) having allowed them a quantity of powder and shot to kill game for food, a favour which was too often abused. They were indeed daily instructed for some hours in the christian religion, but these instructions made much more impression upon their memory than upon their understanding. They could sing and pray, and be heartily penitent for their sins, and talk of the Lamb of atonement; but none were really the better of all this specious appearance, no attention was paid to giving them proper occupations, and, excepting in the hour of prayer, they might be as indolent as they chose. - This convenient mode of getting themselves fed, attracted many of the most worthless and idle, and all who applied were indiscriminately received into the establishment; the consequence was, that the colonists soon made heavy complaint of the want of servants, since the Hottentots were much better pleased with leading an indolent life in Vander Kemp's school, than with gaining their bread by labour. The Dutch governor confirmed the principal part of the favours bestowed on the bead of this institution by the English, and permitted him to call the institution by the name of Bethelsdrop; at the same time he signified his wish that the Hottentots should be excited to industry, and made to contribute towards their own maintenance by cultivating land; this recommendation was accompanied with a large present of implements of husbandry, and seed corn, that there might be po pretence for evading it. On our arrival at Algoa Bay, we received a visit from Vander Kemp. In the very hottest part of the morn ing we saw a waggon, such as is used in husbandry, drawn by four meagre oxen, coming slowly along the sandy downs. Vander Kemp sat upon a plank laid across it, without a hat, his venerable bald head exposed to the burning rays of the sun. He was dressed in a threadbare black coat, waistcoat, and breeches, without shirt, neckcloth, or stockings, and leather sandals bound round his feet, the same as are worn by the Hottentots.-The commissary-general hastened to receive him with the utmost kindness; he descended from his car, and approached with slow and measured steps, presenting to our view a tall, meagre, yet venerable figure. In his serene countenance might be traced remains of former beauty, and in his eyes, still full of fire, were plainly to be discerned the powers of mind which had distinguished his early years. Instead of the usual salutations, he uttered a short prayer, in which he begged a blessing upon our chief and his company, and the protection of Heaven during the remainder of our journey. He then accompanied us into the house, when he entered freely into conversation upon many subjects, without any superciliousness or affected solemnity. The commissary-general reminded him that they had known each other thirty-six years before at Leyden, he was then himself studying the law, and Vander Kemp was in garrison as a lieutenant of dragoons. He named the coffee-house where they had often met and talked over many juvenile occurrences. The missionary remembered these things very distinctly, observing that he led then a dissolute life, but he hoped it was expiated by his subsequent conversion and present course. He related many things worthy of remark during the time that he lived among the Caffres, and elucidated several circumstances that hap happened with them. Before we sat down to table he ejaculated a long prayer, he ate very little, drank no wine, had after dinner a private conference with the commissary-general, and returned in the evening to Bethelsdrop. His colleague, Read, who accompanied him, seemed a goodhearted man ; but most of the missionaries are extremely ignorant. This man, in order to give a striking proof of his lowliness and humility, had married a young Hottentot woman belonging to the establishment. The girl was baptized a few days before her marriage; but, neglected as she was by him, both personally, and with regard to the formation of her mind, no one could believe that he married her from inclination. I have since been informed that in 1807, the old Vander Kemp, following his colleague's example, had married a young Hottentot girl about thirteen, whose freedom with that of her mother he had purchased, not, however, living with her formally as his wife. We returned Vander Kemp's visit. It is scarcely possible to describe the wretched situation in which the establishment appeared to us, especially after having seen that at Barranskloof. On a wide plain, without a tree, almost without water fit to drink, are scattered forty or fifty little huts in the form of hemispheres, but so low that a man cannot stand upright in them. In the midst of them is a small clay hut, thatched with straw, which gees by the name of a church; and close by, some smaller huts of the same materials, for the missionaries. All are so wretchedly built, and are kept with so little care and attention, that they have a perfectly ruinous appearance. For a great way round, not a bush is to be seen, for, what might have been originally, have long ago been used as fuel. The ground all about is perfectly naked, and hard trodden down, without the least trace of human industry; wherever the eye is cast, nothing is presented but lean, ragged, and naked figures, with indolent sleeping countenances. The support of the missionary institutions in England and Holland, the favour of the government, the chace, and the keeping of a few cattle, the produce of which is scarcely worth mentioning, these are the means to which 240 men look for their sustenance. It cannot be matter of astonishment that they are found wholly insufficient, and Vander Kemp complained bitterly, that he had already been forced to sacrifice the greater part of his own property. So much the more extraordinary does it appear that he had never turned his thoughts seriously to instilling habits of industry into his disciples; but every idea of their temporal welfare appears with him to be wholly lost in his anxiety for their eternal salvation.-His own hut is totally destitute of every comfort, even of any approach to neatness, and is perfectly consistent with the negligence of earthly cares which he preaches. He remarked, not without great self-satisfaction, how little was necessary to the support of life; but he surely would have done much better, when he drew these Hottentots around him, to have inspired them with some sort of taste for the refinements of civilization, rather than to have levelled himself with them, and adopted their idle habits of negligence and filth. It appears to me that Vander Kemp is of little value as a missionary, partly because he is a mere enthusiast, and too much absorbed in the idea of conversion; partly because he is too learned, that is to say, too little ac quainted with the concerns of life, to turn the attention even of a raw Hottentot to them. Hence arises his total neglect of husbandry, and all mechanical employments, though these are the arts in which his disciples must be instructed, if he would make them really happy; hence also the |