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known to Carey, who was more than ever determined to reach the country. Thomas consented to return with him, and embark in "The Oxford;" but on account of the stringent law which enacted that all English vessels thus sailing should be duly chartered by the company, they made an attempt to smuggle themselves on board, which failed, as their scheme was discovered. A second attempt was made in a Dantzic vessel bound to India, which, happy to relate, proved a successful one. Carey's wife, with her four children, yielded, after many entreaties, to accompany them, but she did so only on the condition that her sister also should be with her. Not to increase the extra expense by the addition of passengers, Thomas acted most praiseworthily in going as a servant in the steerage, and Carey's wife's sister as a maid-servant. During the voyage, however, the captain would not allow their disguise, but most generously made all eat at the same table. In this way they at length reached Calcutta, where they ran great risk of being seized upon, but happily escaped in the crowd. Carey had learned the Bengal language from Thomas during the voyage, and this proved of all things most valuable. Their first attempt on landing was to preach to the natives, but with little or no success; and their funds were so decreased that they were frequently almost on the point of starvation. Thomas was engaged as manager in an indigo factory, and afterwards Carey, hearing that land was to be given to Europeans forty miles down the river, began to settle with his scanty means in that part of the country. Here it was that he accidentally met with a Mr. Cort, an Englishman, who, with true English hospitality, welcomed him and his family to live at his house. At this time he also luckily obtained a situation as superintendent in an indigo factory, at a high salary, a fourth of which he devoted to printing the Bible in the Bengal language. All leisure hours were delightfully spent in preaching to the natives, and the printing of the Bible. He wrote to England, stirring up Christians at home, who determined to join in the cause of the mission. But, just at that time a terrible fever raged in the land, and Carey's wife went raving mad; the factory also failed, and the poor man was at his wits' end to know what to do, when two good and noble men came out to assist him in the cause-Joshua Markman and William Word: the former, the son of a weaver, and born

in Wiltshire in the year 1768, had from a youth shown the greatest talents for committing his writings to memory the latter, the son of a carpenter, born 1769, had possessed more advantages in education, and was for some years editor of a newspaper. Both were fervent Christian men, and most zealous in the missionary cause. They settled in a Danish territory twenty miles further up the river, and invited Carey to join them. This he did. A printing press was set up, and in the year 1801, Word had the gratification of presenting Carey with a printed copy of the New Testament, which had been translated by the latter into the Bengalese language.

In 1820 I was in India, where William Carey was Professor of Sanscrit, with a salary of £1,600 a-year, in one of the first Oriental schools of Fort William. Out of this salary only about £50 was kept by him, and the whole of the remainder was devoted to the mission. Mr. Marchman and his wife kept a boarding school, with a profit of £40 a month, all of which he devoted to the same object. The Bible was translated into language after language, and circulated far and wide. The baptism of the first convert was under remarkable circumstances. Thomas was in attendance, and as we were nearing the river, Mrs. Carey had one of her raving fits, which had such an effect on the poor man that he lost his mind. Mr. Word died of the cholera.

After forty years in India, Dr. Carey's constitution became well-nigh exhausted, and he was confined to his couch several months, being visited by Dr. Marchman, the late noble Bishop Wilson, the wife of the Governor-General, and many highly distinguished personages. He breathed his last on the 9th June, 1833, full of resignation to the Divine will, and was followed to the grave by a great number of Christians. In his will he expressed a desire to be buried by the side of his wife, and the following memorial, after stating his birth and death, to be affixed to his grave stone-"A wretched, poor, and helpless worm, on Thy kind arms I fall." Such was the humble view this good man had of himself. There is something in the life of such a man for us all to contemplate. Few in a century may born with such talents as his; but O! whether our talents be few or many, let each strive to improve them by forwarding the cause of Christ. O! let every one seek the

be

salvation of his own soul; and let each heart be animated with the constraining desire to spend and to be spent for Christ.

HOMELESS.

BY ADELAIDE A. PROCTER.

[T is cold dark midnight, yet listen
To that patter of tiny feet!

Is it one of your dogs, fair lady,

Who whines in the bleak cold street?-

Is it one of your silken spaniels,

Shut out in the snow and the sleet?

My dogs sleep warm in their baskets,
Safe from the darkness and snow;
All the beasts in our Christian England
Find pity wherever they go-
(Those are only the homeless children
Who are wandering to and fro.)

Look out in the gusty darkness—

I have seen it again and again,
That shadow, that flits so slowly
Up and down past the window pane;
It is surely some criminal lurking
Out there in the frozen rain?

Nay, our criminals all are sheltered,
They are pitied, and taught, and fed;
That is only a sister woman,

Who has got neither food nor bed→→
And the Night cries-"sin to be living,"
And the River cries-" sin to be dead."

Look out at that farthest corner

Where the wall stands blank and bare ;

Can that be a pack which a pedlar

Has left and forgotten there?

His goods lying out unsheltered

Will be spoilt by the damp night air.

Nay-goods in our thrifty England
Are not left to lie and grow rotten;
For each man knows the market value

Of silk, or woollen, or cotton ;-
But, in counting the riches of England,
I think our poor are forgotten.

Our beasts, and our thieves, and our chattels,
Have weight for good or for ill;
But the poor are only His image,

His presence, His word, His will;
And so Lazarus lies at our doorstep,
And Dives neglects him still.

"I KNOW."

(FOR THE LITTLE ONES.)

"I KNOW, I know," sang a little bird From out an orange grove,

"I know, I know why the orange flower In the bridal wreath is wove ;—

It is because the orange tree

Plants deep its roots in love."

"We know, we know," breathes the orange flowers,

In music soft but clear,

"We know, we know why the little bird

Is so wise that singeth here ;

It is because it draws its life

From Love's own atmosphere."

London: FRED. PITMAN, 20, Paternoster Row, E.C.

Printed by J. WARD, Dewsbury.

B. H. F.

Popular Lecturer and Reader.

Edited by HENRY PITMAN, Manchester.

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HE triumphs of Steam and Telegraphy are among the marvels of the 19th century. The first germs of those noble ships that now bridge the ocean by the power of steam, and which have been fitly denominated "floating palaces," date no farther back than the birthday of a sexagenarian. The commencement of the railway system is of even more recent date; while the telegraph, by which thought and speech are transmitted across continents and under seas with lightning speed, is but of yesterday. But I speak not now of the railway and telegraph-I only string together a few memoranda of the early history of STEAM NAVIGATON.

Scotland and America have long contended for the honour of having first proved steam navigation to be practicable. Experiments, vague and obscure, had been tried in both countries long prior to the time when a steam-propelled boat became a commercial reality in either hemisphere. But it is now generally admitted that the first practical solution of the difficulties connected with steam navigation was achieved in Scotland, although it may be impossible to decide whether there or in America a steamboat was first started, as a commercial enterprise, for the conveyance of goods and passengers. Circumstances prevented the Scottish mechanicians from carrying out their projects with the spirit and enterprise displayed by their American compeers, and to our transatlantic friends must be awarded the honour of having been the first "to prac

24.-DEC.

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