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men, that swearing is not necessary.* And even now, we have Captains of several men-of-war, who do not swear at all; and never were men better obeyed."

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"If you are providentially called to reprove any one whom you are not likely to see any more, you are to snatch the present opportunity, and to 'speak in season or 'out of season.' Guard against a mistake which passes for an indisputable maxim, 'Never attempt to reprove a man when he is intoxicated with drink.' I dare not say so. Many years ago, passing by a man in Moorfields, who was so drunk he could hardly stand, I put a paper into his hand. He looked at it, and said, 'A Word, a Word to a Drunkard,t—that is me. Sir, Sir, I am wrong, I know I am wrong: pray let me talk a little with you.' He held me by the hand a full half-hour; and I believe he got drunk no more." (Ibid., p. 302.)

"Michael Fenwick," says Mr. Wesley, "was often hindered from settling in business, because God had other work for him to do. He is just made to travel with me, being an excellent groom, valet-de-chambre, nurse, and, upon occasion, a tolerable Preacher." He one day ventured to express his surprise to Mr. Wesley, that, though he was constantly with him, his name was never mentioned in the Journals. He soon found his vanity reproved; for, under date of July 25th, 1757, Mr. Wesley made the following entry in his Journal :-"I left Epworth with great satisfaction, and about one preached at Clayworth. I think none were unmoved, but Michael Fenwick,§ who fell fast asleep under an adjoining hay-rick." (Vol. ii., p. 419.)

City-Road, May 20th, 1847.

THOMAS MARRIOTT.

THE SABBATH-THE LORD'S DAY.

IT is the SABBATH, the day of rest. Look up, ye sons of Adam, born to eat bread in the sweat of your brow, doomed to labour from your birth ; and, while under this doom, wretched while you labour, and more wretched still when you do not labour: look up from the dust out of which you were taken, and to which you will return: look up from the dirt, and din, and wear and tear of this evil world, for a day of rest is come; a day, in which your labour is to cease; a day, when your aching limbs and wearied spirits may have the repose and refreshment that they need, during which the great primeval curse of our nature shall be suspended, and labour shall cease to be required from man.

Look up, ye sons of labour, on whom the world exercises its stern dominion, and uses you as the instruments by which its thirst for money is to be gratified; look up, ye many who rise up early and take your rest late, and eat the bread of carefulness; look up from the alleys, and lanes, and garrets, and cellars, in which you find your homes; look up, for the day of

"Even those who practise it most, will not often venture to defend it, if one mildly expostulates with them." (See the Sermon, vol. vi., p. 298.)

A Tract inserted in his Works, vol. xi., p. 169, written Nov. 28th, 1745. (See Works, vol. i., p. 532.)

See a Letter to Mr. Blackwell, dated, St. Ives, Sept. 12th, 1755. (Vol. xii. p. 168.)

§ See Atmore's Memorial, p. 124. It is now fifty years since my father received the account of his death from Mr. Peacock, who was with him in the mill when it was struck by lightning. 2 z

VOL. III.—FOURTH SERIES.

rest is come, a day in which the world has no right, a day in which the slave is free from his master, and every one of you may feel the difference between the service of God and that of men.

Look up; for that yellow light which ushers in the morning is not calling you out to toil and restraint, but to rest, and peace, and liberty. Those tuneful chimes which usher in the day, how unlike the sharp shrill tone of the factory-bell, which has been accustomed to hasten you on your road, proclaim to all the world that the Sabbath which God has ordained is come, and that it is his gracious will that your labours should have an intermission, that your bodies should have refreshment, that your souls should taste the sweets of freedom and independence, and that you should go forth, for one day in the week, in the glorious liberty of the children of God.

But it is the Lord's day also. This day of rest does not merely come to tell us of God's merciful purposes to man, it comes to declare their accomplishment. It does not merely come to give rest to the wearied body, but to give peace to the wearied soul. It offers not merely a temporary repose to that frame which must soon find the end of all its sufferings in death, but it discloses to the soul the prospect of an everlasting rest, purchased by the sufferings of Christ, and assured to us by his resurrection; and by that prospect puts an end to all the cares, and anxieties, and labours, under which it had been labouring through life.

It is the Lord's day then. Look up, ye many who travail and are heavy laden, on whom the world imposes its burden, or on whom the flesh presses in the forms of poverty, disease, or pain; look up, for the Lord's day is come, and it tells you of another and a better world, where “ this corruptible shall put on incorruption, and this mortal, immortality;" where there shall be no pain, no sorrow, and where "the light affliction, which is but for a moment," shall be forgotten in the "exceeding and eternal weight of glory," that shall be revealed.

It is the Lord's day: look up again, ye who are travailing and heavy laden with a worse burden than that which the world imposes, or the flesh contains: look up, ye few who know the plague of your own hearts, and are groaning under the weight and burden of your own sins; who have struggled to escape, and have not been able; who have sought for comfort in yourselves, and have not found it; who have laboured to establish your own righteousness, and have found that you could destroy your own peace, but could not regain it: look up, convicted sinners, trembling at a judgment which you do not dare to meet, sinking under a burden which you feel you cannot bear; look up in hope, for the Lord's day is come, and the day of your redemption draweth nigh. On that day, the Son of God, "sanctified and sent into the world" to be the Saviour of those who could not save themselves; who was "wounded for our transgressions," "bruised for our iniquities," on whom "the chastisement of our peace" fell; on this day He who" died for our sins," "rose again for our justification;" in his own resurrection gave the pledge of ours, and proved that He was able to save all who believe in Him, by rising from the dead, and appearing to those who waited for Him. To keep alive the remembrance of this mighty work, of the sacrifice accepted, of the reconciliation effected, of heaven opened, and eternal life secured, the Lord's day comes, and proclaims a risen Saviour, and a ransomed world.-New-York Observer.

INDIA: WHAT IS IT?

BY THE REV. WILLIAM ARTHUR.

INDIA is a region more than twenty times as large as England and Wales, and equal to the united extent of France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Turkey in Europe, Austria, Prussia, Bavaria, all the minor German States, with Belgium, Holland, and Denmark. Its people are divided into thirtyfive different states, speaking thirty different languages.* They number two hundred millions; a population equal to that of the whole continent of Europe, and comprising at least one-sixth, probably one-fifth, of the entire human race. China excepted, India is the most populous country in the

world.

Its physical outlines deserve a word. That magnificent mountain-chain which runs eastward from the Caspian Sea, traversing Asia, is interrupted as it approaches the vale of Cashmere by an opening which parts the Hindu Coosh on the west from the Himâlaya on the east. Through this opening the Indus descends from the plains of Thibet, and, separating India from Affghanistan and Beloochistan, forms its western boundary. On the north, for a length of fifteen hundred miles, an uninterrupted barrier is formed by the gigantic Himalaya; while the Brumhapootra, rounding the further extremity of that chain, marks the eastern frontier. The two sides of the triangular peninsula which constitutes its southern termination rest respectively on the Arabian Sea, and the Bay of Bengal.

Starting from the Indus, and proceeding eastward, every stream encountered for about four hundred miles takes the direction of that great river, and runs southerly towards the Arabian Sea. The whole tract covered by this geological level is called the Plain of the Indus, and includes the Punjaub, Scinde, and neighbouring states. Further eastward than the above limit, all the streams are found to take the same direction as the Ganges, flowing toward the Bay of Bengal. The tract covered by this level, although extending over a length of about one thousand two hundred miles, with a breadth of six hundred, is called the Plain of the Ganges, and includes most of the Bengal provinces. On the southern limit of the Plain of the Ganges, or six hundred miles south of the Himâlaya, you encounter a lofty range called the Vindhyâya Mountains; and south of these a great river (the Nerbudda) flows to the west, having a second range of mountains (the Sautpoora) on its southern bank; beyond these you find a second noble river (the Tapty) flowing also to the west, while southward of it rises a third chain of mountains. But having ascended these, instead of finding a ready descent to carry you down on the other side, you discover a plain, level with the summit of the hills, and stretching in gentle undulations beyond the southern horizon. Proceeding in that direction to discover a descent from this wide-topped mountain, you travel eight hundred miles before passing from the elevation to the same level as that from which you started. This elevated tract, varying in breadth from one hundred to five hundred miles, forms a third geological level, inclining strongly from west to east, as is indicated by the course of all its rivers: it includes the Mysore, Ceded Districts, Hydrabad, Berar, and Mahratta territories. A person will

These languages, though, like the tongues of Europe, having close affinity one with another, are quite as widely separated as they, and in some cases more so. + This river is said to discharge in the dry season eighty thousand cubic feet per second.

form a tolerable conception of the relation which the countries lying on this plateau occupy to the rest of India, if he just think,-The island of Great Britain stands up from the sea at a certain elevation; now, suppose that elevation increased till every cliff round the coast were as high as Snowdon, the whole surface of the country being proportionally raised, then our fields would hold the same position toward the beach, as the kingdoms just named do to those lying at the foot of the Ghauts; while the mountainous heights up which one ascending from the beach must climb, would exactly represent the Ghauts themselves. A tract of tableland is in fact the very same natural phenomenon as an island, only that the one is surrounded by land, the other by the sea.

The Plain of the Indus, the Plain of the Ganges, the central mountainous district, and the grand plateau are the leading physical divisions of India.

It is an error to take India as a whole for a tropical country. It is true that part of it lies within eight degrees of the equator; but then such is its magnitude that another part lies more northerly than Jerusalem, and little more than a degree south of Gibraltar. So far from being all a tropical country, in starting from the northern limit of Cashmere you travel nearly seven hundred miles before entering the tropics. Lahore, the most northerly capital, and Trinchinopoly, the most southerly, are two cities as far apart as Stockholm and Naples, and with climates equally diverse. Thus, while in some of the kingdoms of India snow has never been known, in others it comes with every winter; and the name of that matchless chain which embattles its northern frontier signifies "the dwelling-place of snow.' Again, from the circumstance that so large a portion of tropical India is table-land, a climate is secured many degrees milder than if it lay at the natural level. This diversity of climate gives rise to a great diversity of produce: India rears crops of rice and of wheat,† of maize and barley, with equal variety in fruits and vegetables.

Let it, then, be remembered that India is not one state, but thirty states; not a country of one language, but of thirty languages; not a tract of uniform heat, but a region of various climates; not the residence of one tribe, but of a sixth of all the men that live. These things must not merely be read as statements. They must be viewed, dwelt upon, felt as facts. Much depends on this: the share of your benevolence given to India will be ruled by your conception of what it is. Your heart will never kindle with an interest appropriate to its claims, until you carefully and clearly set it out before your mind, as a large family of populous nations, which comprises one sixth of all the hearts that are now throbbing.

The productions of India nearly exhaust the catalogue of things precious in the mineral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms. The trader looks at the

* Him-âlaya. It has been thought that all land above ten thousand feet high was perpetually covered with snow; but this opinion is completely contradicted by our knowledge of the Himalaya. It is observed also that on the northern side of this range the line of perpetual snow lies at a much greater height than on the southern or more sunny side, a result just the reverse of what might be anticipated. The Count Bjömstjerna remarks, that "the cause of this must be the greater purity of the atmosphere" on the northern face of the chain. It would be much more natural to ascribe it to the fact that the land of Thibet on the north of the chain lies at an immense elevation above Hindustan on its south, consequently its heat affects the mountains to a point corresponding with its own height.

+ It is not generally known that Indian wheat is an article of import in England, being used principally for glaire in manufactures.

mercantile worth of its spices, jewels, grains, sugars, cotton, silk, indigo, tobacco, woods, ivory, drugs, and perfumes. The naturalist pores enamoured over its Fauna, its Flora, and its mineralogy. But no eye looks so wondering on those productions as that of the philosophic or the Christian historian, who traces the power they have in all ages swayed over the social state of the world; the ways innumerable in which that power is now pervading all civilized life; and the certainty, every day growing clearer, that hence will spring changes which, for the magnitude of the spheres affected, the value of the benefits conferred, and the splendour of the consequent career, will shine without parallel in the annals of man.

This, though perfectly intelligible to those versed in the history of the connexion between the West and the East, requires, for others, some explanation.

The strongest tie used by Providence to preserve the relation of people to people, is the craving of men for productions not indigenous to their own climate. Had all nations found at home everything necessary and agreeable, it is impossible to conceive to what extent their mutual alienation might have proceeded. China and Japan help us to an idea of that which, in such a case, would have constituted nationality. But while God gave to all men the capacity to enjoy every good thing the earth yielded, he mercifully appointed its productions so that each individual should receive many of his gratifications at the hand of his brother who bore a foreign tint and spoke a foreign tongue. Each was constituted co-heir of all the riches of the family estate; but he could inherit only by virtue of a family compact. Hence arose international commerce; and, as its necessary result, intercourse between distant people, the knowledge of each other's tongues, and the formation of mutual interests.

The productions natural to India excited from the earliest times the desires of all nations lying to the west; while their portability facilitated transport even before the existence of those means of carriage required by the unwieldy commerce of the present day. Spices, jewels, perfumes, and silk, while the very articles certain to be craved for, were yet such that a camel-load formed a considerable investment.

Persia and Arabia first received these luxuries, and communicated the taste for them to their western neighbours. The Phoenicians, when no longer content to receive this commerce at second-hand, launched upon the Red Sea, brought their merchandise direct from the ports of India, and, conveying it across the Isthmus of Suez, re-shipped it at Rhinocalura on the Mediterranean; hence they carried it to Tyre. The wealth which they derived from this traffic so impressed Alexander when he became their captor, that, in order to divert it into another channel, he founded a city at the mouth of the Nile, to which cargoes could be easily conveyed from the Red Sea, and from which they could again be distributed round the European ports. He had calculated justly: the new city soon became the entrepôt of the Indian trade, and, deriving from it the same advantages as Tyre, won eminent wealth and power. Throughout the revolutions of many ages, Alexandria preserved, by its position, the regular flow of this traffic, with all its lucrative results; nor did this cease till the Mohammedan conquest cut it off from the intercourse of Europe. In the mean time another branch of the same trade had raised up in the Syrian desert Palmyra, which, growing upon the wealth that trade ever conferred, reached great magnificence and political power; but after a long struggle fell under the all-humbling arms of Rome. When the Mussulmauns had

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