it she may be taught, like myself, to prize the Word of God." She was overcome by weakness and strong emotion. I promised compliance with her instructions. I then read to her part of the seventh chapter of the Book of the Revelation, and if I ever prayed fervidly in my life, I did it on that occasion; that this young Christian might be sustained in the dying hour, find peace at last, and gain a happy deliverance from all her trials. On my return, I at once stated her case to some valued Christian ladies, and measures were taken to render her more comfortable; but it was too late, for the very next day, after having been lifted up in her hard and comfortless bed, a sudden change occurred, and she expired without a struggle or a groan. After the lapse of many years I often think of my interview with dying Sarah. W. ANECDOTES, FACTS, AND APHORISMS. CONFESSING CHRIST. GENERAL ZIETHEN was an officer in the service of Frederick the Great, king of Prussia. He was a truly Christian man, and when obliged to appear at court, was often deeply pained by the conversation which was carried on there; for the king, although highly renowned in the world's estimation, and beloved by his subjects, was an infidel. It happened that General Ziethen was invited one Good Friday to dine with the king. The pious old man, who was always in the habit of setting apart that day for reading and meditation, delined the king's invitation. Some time after, Ziethen was a guest at the royal table. The king joined in, or rather led, the witty remarks for which the society at the palace was celebrated. In the height of his mirth, Frederick suddenly turned round, and addressed to Ziethen a flippant question about the Lord's Supper, which he had attended on Good Friday. We will not repeat the question, for we think that the less such speeches are known the better. It is sufficient to say that it was of an impious character. A loud laugh burst from the gay company which surrounded the table. Some laughed because they shared in the religious sentiments of the king; some because others laughed. Ziethen alone was unmoved. He got p, and after bowing low to the king, addressed in an unfaltering voice the following words to him:-" Your majesty knows that in war I have never feared any danger, and that whenever it was required, I have resolutely risked my life for you and for the country. This feeling still animates me, and if it is of any use, and you command it, I will willingly lay my head at your feet. But there is One above us who is more than you and I, more than all men; the Saviour and Redeemer of the world, who has dearly purchased salvation for us with His blood. That holy Saviour I cannot allow to be ridiculed; for on Him rests my faith, my trust, and my hope in life and in death. In the strength of this faith, your brave army has courageously fought and conquered ; if your majesty undermine it, you undermine, at the same time, the welfare of the state. This is a true saying, indeed. May it please your majesty to excuse my freedom." A death-like silence pervaded the whole room. The king, with evident emotion, offered to the honest old general his right hand, laid the left on his shoulder, and spoke, deeply affected, "Happy Ziethen! I wish I could believe like you! Hold fast your faith. It shall be done no more." Although the dinner was but half over, the king rose from the table, and gave a sign of dismissal to the guests; but to Ziethen he offered his hand, saying, "Come with me into my | a hymn which his child had received closet." What took place between the in a Ragged school, and which were king and the good old man, who had just fastened up by the little boy as a choice rebuked him, He who seeth in secret treasure. The father had seen them a can alone know; but no one can read this hundred times over, and never heeded anecdote without feeling how man- them; but he was laid upon a sick bed, fully Ziethen discharged his duty to and then a text from Scripture quoted his God, under most trying circum- in one of these verses first caught his stances, and yet how completely he pre- eye, and found its way to his heart. served the respect due to his king. And He desired his child to bring his Bible, it is gratifying to be able to add, that and see if the quotation was correct. Frederick's friendship for Ziethen He then read on; and a visit from the remained unabated. Scripture Reader occurring soon afterwards was received with gratitude, for his old companions had deserted him. It pleased God to raise him once more to health, and he has now renounced infidelity, is an attendant at God's house, has prospered in the world, and is become the happy father of a happy family-all owing to the text which took hold' upon him." 6 THE RELIGION OF THE BOOK. I A Roman Catholic woman came to my house lately with her son, a fine young fellow about seventeen years of age. "The truth is," she said, "we don't know what to do, for we are both ignorant, and what can we know?" gave her son a copy of the New Testament, and I have the following testimony of the good use he made of it. Some time after, I met the woman, and asked her, “What is your son doing with the Bible?" "Oh, then," said she, "that's a strange lad; since the day he got that book, nothing will do for him but reading; and now he is so queer, that he makes myself ashamed of the way he goes on, speaking against the Roman Catholic religion; and instead of coming to the chapel, as the other young men in the street, he will go into some quiet place, and be reading always, always at Luke and John." When I asked her," What religion does he think the right one ?" "Why, then," she said, "to tell you the truth, I am sure in my heart he does not care a straw for any one, only altogether about what the book tells him, he is all for the religion of the book." THE TEXT THAT TOOK HOLD. "Over the mantelpiece of a drunkard's home hung one or two ornamental cards, each containing a few verses of THE HARMONY OF LIBERTY AND LAW. Perfect liberty does not require exemption from law altogether, but only the exclusion of every law which is not holy and just and good. PRINCIPLES. Let first principles be fixed principles; firm, because well founded. TWO INSEPARABLE THINGS. You can by no means separate the advantages conferred by God, and the obligations incurred by man; His deeds, "and your debt. OUR DEBT TO GOD. One word is proper every man's "How much answer to the question owest thou unto my Lord?" That word is: "Myself." SIN AND SORROW. The less sin before, the less torrow after conversion. HYMN SUNG AT AN EARLY MORNING SERVICE ON NEW YEAR'S DAY, 1858. "A yearly sacrifice."-1 SAMUEL XX. 6. OUR Father God, with filial fear, Before Thy throne of grace we bow, And early hail the dawning year, Hear Thou our prayers and praises now. This yearly sacrifice we lay Upon the altar of Thy praise; Spared thro' Thy mercy, Lord, to-day, Our hearts in holy love we raise. No slaughter'd lamb, no incense sweet, No priest, no offering dost Thou need; Christ's blood is on Thy mercy-seat, For us His boundless merits plead. Come, Holy Spirit, come with power! For Jesus' sake all hearts renew; Come in this glad, this solemn hour, With light and love our souls endue. HINDOOISM AND THE HINDOOS, I. THE BRAHMANS IN THE ARMY. Ir is commonly thought in Europe that Brahmans are holy men, devoted entirely to religious services; at one time engaged in conducting the worship of the people, and then studying with eagerness the shastres, which they deem the productions of the gods and sages; now unfolding to the people the meaning of these shastres, and then, as their spiritual guides, applying their lessons to the varied phases of life; at one time dwelling among the people as their religious teachers, then retiring to the wilderness * These extracts are taken from a very able pamphlet, entitled, "The Great Indian Mutiny of 1857. Its Causes, Features, and Results." By the Rev. James Kennedy, M.A., Benares. Ward and Co. A pamphlet which may be safely recommended to all who wish to under stand recent events in India-and who does not? LIGHT to discern the past, and tell Of good received, and sins forgiv'n; LOVE to uphold, attract, impel Our spirits in their path to heav'n. Invited by Thy gracious word, We meet, and in Thy name agree; Our prayers are one, bestow, O Lord, A present blessing full and free. Ye doubting souls, delay no more; Time flies, God calls, death urges now! Knock, humbly knock at mercy's door, And offer there your solemn vow. Yourselves, your heart to Jesus give, -Your heart, of every gift the crownThis day to Him begin to live, And He the SACRIFICE will own. S. CLARKSON. Broughton, Manchester. The bearing of the extracts on the questions discussed by Mr. Kennedy, can be seen fully only by studying them in their connexion. We quote them for the illustrations which they contain of the character and in fluence of Hindooism. to give themselves uninterruptedly to devotion and ascetic practices; above all, regarding life with the utmost sacredness, shrinking from taking the life of an ant, far more the life of a human being. To such persons the announcement must be startling, that the Brahmans abound in the Bengal army. Residents in India know well that Brahmans form in many districts a large part of the community; that they are a race, rather than a select class set apart for select work, and that they are obliged, whatever their theoretic views, to engage largely in secular employments for their support. Setting aside many who find subsistence as priests, performers of ceremonies, religious teachers, plodding scholars, carriers of sacred water, guardians of sacred places, ascetics, and religious beggars, there remains a very large part of the community to be otherwise occupied and supported. A vast number of them are so illiterate, that they cannot read a word, but whatever their work may be, they never forget that they are Brahmans. of that class for a week living on uncooked grain, because, from fear of tigers, no one could venture on shore. It can be easily supposed how hateful a sea voyage must be to such men. The very proposal to go on foreign service has oftener than once led to open mutiny... A Brahman will not readily acknowledge that any subject has been left unnoticed by the gods and sages, in the sacred books prepared for all time, and therefore the English so prominent in his land must be found there. And it is customary to represent them as descendants of the giants, those mighty Titans, who sometimes contended successfully with gods and Brahmans, and inflicted on them intolerable wrongs. We have even heard our genealogy carefully traced by the light of the shastres. The argument has been clenched by names found in the Mahabharat and Ramayan, which resemble those that still prevail among Europeans. The Hindoo sepoy, however unlearned he may be, has plenty of this lore, and believes that he, one o the twice born, a god on earth, is ruled over by descendants of that race on whom his shastres bestow the vilest epithets. Brahmans, even when illiterate, have first-rate talents for plotting, and with no check from a foreign element in the ranks, it would be strange if their talents were not drawn into exercise. They are also intensely superstitious. They are not high-principled, or even, as a body, orderly in their lives, but their immorality is quite consistent with superstitious zeal. They are superstitious from policy, as well as from education and habit, being well aware that the downfall of Hindooism would be the downfall There is once more seen, as in Lanka of | of that fancied greatness, to which they attach so high a value. Their scruples, extending, as their religion instructs them, to innumerable acts of daily life, are extremely inconvenient in soldiers, who without a pliable spirit cannot adapt themselves to their ever-varied position. These high-caste men think toil beneath them; and when trench or similar work has had to be performed they have generally shrunk from it, as fit for labourers, but not for soldiers. Foreign service has been the object of their special aversion. They cannot engage in it without either losing their caste, or submitting to great privations. This is peculiarly the case, when a sea voyage is the prelude to such service. These men, even when voyaging on the Ganges, cannot cook on board without going in the face of their most fondly-cherished prejudices. In order to preparing their food they must get to land. On one occasion, when passing through the Sunderbunds, we saw men They have had it instilled into their minds from their earliest years, that they are essentially different from and superior to others, and that it is only an iron age that is the cause of their depression. Of their deep humiliation during a large part of the Mussulman rule they know little and think less; but the most illiterate among them are familiar with the traditions which represent them as superior even to the gods. In thought they live in the times of which their poets sing, when the world existed only for the glory of the Brahmans. That these men should be proud and look down on others with contempt is an inevitable consequence. | old, the monstrous inversion of Rachhas having Brahmans under their feet. Constant intercourse with Englishmen must tend to modify, if not deaden this feeling, but in spite of such intercourse it still exists in great power. II. THE CONVENTIONAL MORE SACRED The peculiar features of the native character are seen in this mutiny as in a mirror. For instance, we see in it a remarkable illustration of the regard the people pay to conventional usages, especially when these, as is indeed almost always the case in India, have the sanc tion of religion. If we were to judge by a European standard, we should conclude that the people who have risen with such fury against us had been cruelly oppressed; that oppression had driven them mad, and that they must have against us a damning tale of tyranny. But it is not so. In the rebel manifestos, scarcely And a word is to be found charging us with injustice, oppression, or even mal-government. They are full of abuse of us as foreigners, as Christians, as an impure race, set on destroying caste and the native religions. The changes have been rung wearisomely on the unutterable wickedness of greasing the cartridges. even if this be only a pretext, the sepoys would not have used it as they have done, well nigh to the exclusion of everything else, had it not been more fitted to rouse the people than everything else that could be named. We have listened to tales about cartridges, pig's grease, cow's grease, papers dangerously glazed, a conspiracy to overthrow the religion of the people, &c., usque ad nauseam, but have scarcely heard an allusion to oppression as a ground of complaint. Every resident in India knows well how bound the people are by conventional forms rather than by moral ties in their present conduct; and this feature of the native character is placed in the strongest light. "When the Romans took possession of Egypt, the people submitted, without the least resistance, to have their lives and property at the mercy of a foreign nation; but one of the Roman soldiers happening to kill a cat in the streets of Alexandria, they rose on him and tore him limb from limb, and the excitement was so violent that the generals overlooked the outrage for fear of insurrection." The Hindoos resemble the Egyptians. The English have committed many violent deeds in India; but the very rumour of greased cartridges has more power in it than all of them together to inflame the public mind against us. India is a land of singular moral perversity. Moral distinctions are constantly and habitually disregarded. Conventional regulations are scrupulously followed. The laws of God, to which even the natural conscience testifies, are trampled under foot. The mere traditions of men are deferentially held. A house-bearer, of no high caste, has no objection to pilfer when he can; with imperturbable coolness he can tell lies by the score; he can do many other things equally condemned by the law of God, but he is terrified at the proposa to touch a tallow candle, or take an egg in his hand; and rather than yield he would throw up his situation. Most serious riots occurred at different places, a few years ago, on account of the determination of the government to form messes in jails. Nothing was really done to affect the caste of the prisoners, for only those were appointed cooks, from whose hands all according to custom could eat with propriety; but the jail gentry who had hitherto prepared each his own food, were filled with alarm lest they should be defiled-(their crimes had not deprived them of their caste standing,)— and blood was in several places shed before they were reduced to obedience. Many outside the jail sympathized wit those within. At Benares, for instance, some five years ago, there was such a riot in consequence of the new messing regulations in the jail, that the soldiers were required to act before it could be quelled, and three hundred of the citizens were taken up for the part they took in it. In a country where such perverted moral sentiments prevail, the very mention of high-caste Hindoos touching cow's fat, and the Mussulmans pigs' fat, not only with their hands, but with their lips, was enough to call forth a howl of horror. The order to break every law in the Decalogue would, by many, be deemed more bearable. III. THE CRUELTY OF HINDOOS AND HINDOOISM. The cruelty to which Hindustanis, with other Asiatics, are prone, has been shockingly illustrated throughout this revolt, and has, we may say, horrified the whole civilized world. Not only have many been murdered, but the murderers have tortured their victims with diabolical fierceness and ingenuity. They have sported with the dying agonies of children. Women have been subjected to unutterable indignities before being slain. We turn with loathing and indignation from the details. It is right, however, to remember, that the sepoys have not been the immediate actors in the worst of |
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