night-scenes in ages far remote, when the ancestors of this same people, at nearly the same place, and on the self-same "river of Egypt," held their feast of boats and lamps in honour of the great goddess Bubastis, three thousand years ago."

The principal square of the projected city, which some say is to be honoured with the name of the young Sultan, was crowded with spectators, all in holiday-attire, presenting features and costumes as various as were their nations; such curious and motley groups, so picturesque, and so various, could perhaps only be found in a locality like Cairo. The air resounded with the martial music of the Pasha's grand military band, and the deafening volleys of artillery. I am informed from authority, that, during the festivity, no less than one thousand cannons were fired.

Friday, the 9th, at nine A. M., His Highness Mahomet Ali passed over to the western side of the Barrage, because there the chief bridge will be constructed for the Rosetta branch of the Nile. At this point tents had been erected for the Pasha, his officers of state, the dignitaries of foreign powers, and the Ulima. The whole body of Theiks and Ulima were summoned to the ceremonial, and were now ready to offer up prayer and supplication for a blessing on the work, in conformity with the Mahometan usages. Among the most distinguished we could name Sheik Saiem, the Chief Priest, or grand Sheik of El-Islamism, and consequently the head of the Mahometan law; the Mufti, Sheik-el-Temimi; SheikHabash, the Chief of the class called "Malki;" Sheik-El-Bakri, the Chief of the descendants of the Prophet; in fact, the great Sheriff, Mustafa-Pasha-El-Aroosa, the guardian of all brides, &c. These High Priests of the Crescent went through the form of repeating various chapters of the book called "Bahari," which is "the Book of Odours," or sweet smells, each Sheik having to recite a chapter. Next to the Koran, the Bahari is held in the highest estimation and veneration, because it records the words of "the Prophet," whilst the Koran contains the word of God alone therefore it is regarded as the most perfect production of man, the best suited and most prized commentary on the Koran. The Bahari is only read on occasions of great national calamity or festivity. During the utterance of these sacred prayers and recitations, the stone was laid. It had been hollowed to receive a small leaden box, about one foot and a half long, by one and a quarter wide. In this were deposited specimens of every kind of money in gold, silver, and copper, coined during the reign of Mahomet Ali; as well as several medals, struck for the occasion. These represented the arch of the Barrage on one side, and on the reverse the date of the first year that His Highness was Pasha of Egypt. A plan of the Barrage, executed in golden lines, was also enclosed; and a paper, which the Viceroy signed, together with the nobles of his court, the Ulima, the foreign Consuls, and other persons of distinction, present. The box was then soldered down, and deposited in the cavity prepared for it in the foundation-stone; melted lead was poured over, to seal it against the atmospheric action which ages might induce. The Pasha now took the golden trowel, and, in conformity with European custom, applied the mortar and laid the stone: a vast block was then lowered upon this one by machinery. His Highness was presented with a silver hammer, with which he struck it three times, and at the same moment a royal salute was fired, which announced to the gazing multitude beyond that the ceremony

*See Herodotus on Bubastis.

was completed. As soon as the Pasha left, two bulls were offered up in solemn sacrifice upon this stone, according to the ancient custom of the children of Ishmael and Esau. It would be a subject of great interest to trace the origin of this early mode of sacrifice amongst the tribes of Arabia; for there are certain proofs connected with the slaughter of these animals, which indicate that the usage has been borrowed from the heathen observances of the Edomitish nations, and was perfectly distinct from those commanded by the law of Moses. These poor bulls were tied by the legs, and then the legs were broken with clubs, and they were cut and maimed most barbarously, and pushed along, all helpless as they were, by the knives and pointed sticks of their assailants, to the place of sacrifice. The stone was covered with the gore of the victims, and they died there at last from mere exhaustion.

Nothing could exceed the kindness and condescension of Mahomet Ali throughout the festival. He was very cheerful, and evidently much pleased with his masonic labour. Doubtless it was a proud moment in his prosperous career, when he laid the foundation of a work as gigantic as any recorded of the Pharaohs. We cannot but admire his conduct in the whole affair: it gives certain indication that his thoughts and wishes cling to the customs of civilization. This is the first time that the Turkish empire has witnessed a ceremonial so purely European. Wherever His Highness moved he was followed by a vast crowd, among which he scattered handsful of gold, to their great delight.

The Pasha now returned to the Delta, where a magnificent dinner was provided for thirty persons; and he took the head of the table. In another tent preparations were made for the élite who could not be accommodated at the Viceroy's board; and over this Abbas Pasha presided, assisted by Mahomet-Ali Bey, and Gamel Pasha. The fantasia was not only a festival for the rich, but His Highness made it also a feast for the poor, to whom he gave with an unsparing hand. It is said, that not less than forty thousand cakas of rice, with twenty thousand sheep, were consumed on this occasion, besides bread and other necessaries in proportion.

After dinner the Pasha rose, and gave the signal for departure. The nobles and visiters immediately left with one accord. His Highness repaired to Thabra ; and in the evening Cairo received back all its truant inhabitants. A. L.

Cairo, July.

"HE THAT BELIEVETH SHALL NOT MAKE HASTE."

A CHRISTIAN'S steps are not only safe, but steady. "He that believeth shall not make haste." When danger approaches, he shall not be thrown into confusion from his alarm, so as to be ready to say, "Whither shall I run?" but, finding himself on safe ground, he shall be quiet. Being built on the sure foundation and established in Christ, he shall not make haste in his expectations: he shall not make haste with respect to the promises, as though they were long in their accomplishment, knowing that "all the promises of God are yea, and in Christ amen." In affliction, he shall not make haste in running to broken cisterns; as Asa did, when, in his disease, he sought not to the Lord, but to the Physicians: he shall not be alarmed, or driven about, as one who has not a stronghold to enter; but shall say, "None of these things move me; neither count I my life dear unto

myself, so that I might finish my course with joy! With respect to his character, the Christian shall not make haste: if a cloud come over his reputation, and men will suspect his integrity without grounds, he will commit himself to God, and wait his opportunity, and not make rash haste to justify and clear his character. When a man can say, "My God!" if he can add no more, that is sufficient: for my God is all-wise in appointing, and almighty to uphold and to deliver. My God is a Father to me in Christ; yea, he is a Father who hid his face from Christ for my good. If, then, I am in darkness, let me remember that God never had a son that was not sometimes in the dark; for even Christ, his only-begotten Son, cried out, "My God! my God! Why hast thou forsaken me ?"-Rev. R. Cecil.

INDIA: ITS PEOPLE.

BY THE REV. WILLIAM ARTHUR.

In thinking of the people of India, you must dismiss the ideas of jetblack skin, thick lips, flat nose, and woolly hair, which we too readily associate with all natives of the tropics. None of these belong to the Hindu; he bears not the African, but the Caucasian, type. Keep him before your mind as he was described in our chapter on Madras,—a man about the middle size, of slender person and graceful carriage, with good features, a soft black eye, a mild expression, and a complexion varying from straw-colour to a deep dusky brown, almost black. Instead of the stiff black cylinder that surmounts the European head, he has a muslin turban of bright colours and graceful folds; and for shirt, vest, and coat, he has a simple frock-coat of white calico, or, in country districts, a long piece of the same cloth, which he folds so as to cover, at pleasure, a greater or less part of his person: trousers are substituted by a long, flowing robe of calico. The female has no other head-dress than her long, black, glossy hair; and for all other garment, a single robe and a simple boddice.

When a Hindu honours you with a visit, he leaves his shoes at some distance from the door, and enters barefooted, for stockings he has none; but he wears his turban : for it would be as disrespectful to appear before you with his head bare as with his feet covered. Thus, his politeness and yours are directly opposed. He approaches with an air at once self-possessed and respectful, and, bowing low, lifts his hand in a graceful sweep, till the fingers touch the front of the turban, saying, at the same time, Salaam aya, or Salaam sahib, according to the language he may choose to employ. Should your rank, or his circumstances, incline him to a more striking obeisance, the head is more profoundly bowed, and the turban touched with both hands. In this case, a difference is obvious between those who adopt the "double salaam" of the Mussulmans, and those who retain the Hindu namaskara. In the former case the hands are brought to the forehead open, as in a salutation; in the other, they are laid together, and raised as in the attitude of prayer. This latter salute, when offered by the poor, is more than respectful, it is painfully abject; but even that does not always suffice for their profound politeness. I have seen a man of six feet high bow slowly down till his forehead touched the floor, leaving you astounded equally at his humility and his suppleness. If he come to pay you a formal visit, he is required by etiquette to bring some present, as all well know who have had patience to read the narrative of

the visits and return-visits of Lord Valentia. The gifts presented in ordinary politeness are very simple: a few lines, plantains, oranges, or pineapples; but if the visiter have any important favour to demand, or is approaching a dignified personage, the present is valuable, and sometimes magnificent. The Judges in native courts were generally favoured with a call from the suitors on both sides of every weighty cause, before the hearing came on; and all were supposed to learn from the judgment delivered which had been the more liberal. The same politeness was plentifully accorded to those of our own countrymen who first undertook the adminis tration of justice; but the Government at length felt that such habits were incompatible with necessary purity, and therefore wisely forbade their servants to receive presents of value. Though the natives are perfectly aware that this regulation was made for their benefit, they hardly know how to be pleased with it, for it grievously interferes with immemorial usage. To be led before a Judge whom you have not conciliated with a handsome present, is for them a rude, point-blank way of going to law. I was told of a case in which the rule was ingeniously evaded, by presenting the lady of a Judge with some fruit on a richly-wrought silver dish, shaped like a leaf, and then refusing to receive back "the leaf on which the fruit lay."

A Hindu visiter is of easy manners and fluent conversation: a propriety and deference the most flattering mark his address. If he asks you where you are going, his politeness couches the question thus: "What place are you going to favour?" If he desires you to tell him anything, he says, "Give your command;" if himself desirous of making an observation, he says, "I will make my petition;" and thus in various ways he insinuates a delicate politeness into common-place remarks. If he be little acquainted with Europeans, and at the same time looking for a favour, he will greet you with titles the most sonorous, and overlay you with compliments the most resplendent. To be called Maha Rajah, “a great King," is a common matter; while "Prince of the earth," "Lord of the four worlds," and "Lord of the fourteen worlds," are titles at which my unaccustomed ears have often laughed, when the countenance dare not for shame keep them company. The lower classes frequently address you as Swami, "God;" and the lowest as Dayvaru, a still more sacred appellation of Deity. One day a fine young man came up to me, and, after the most profound salaams, opened with a swell and pomp of adulation that might have proclaimed him Captain-General of compliments: "Great King, Governor of the earth, Lord of the fourteen worlds, your fame is universally diffused. I have heard it at Bellary, and am come thence" (a distance of two hundred miles) "just to make the vision of your countenance." “Indeed,” rejoined I, trying to preserve a sober face; “I was not aware that I had done anything to spread my fame so far as Bellary: may I ask what it is for which I am so celebrated ?" With perfect coolness and complacency, he replied, “You are the ruler of the country, and the benefactor of the people. You are making roads, and building bridges, and digging wells, and constructing tanks, and planting groves, and, in fact, doing everything munificent." "Really," said I, with all gravity, “I was not aware that I was performing such great works: would you have the goodness to tell me where one could find the roads I have made, the bridges I have built, and the groves, tanks, and wells of which you speak?" He looked profoundly puzzled; for he had never imagined that any one would be so dull as to treat those magnificent flights of complimental oratory in

this vulgar, matter-of-fact way; he meaning by his expressions nothing at all, but that he wished to be understood as intending all the civilities under the sun. After a second of embarrassment, he recovered his self-possession, and said, "Why, your people" (the English) "are doing all this, and that is just the same thing!" The whole of this display was only to introduce a request that I would interest himself to procure him a situation. These excesses of flattery are not found among natives who have had much intercourse with Europeans; their compliments are often really delicate; and even the lowest of the people, when assured by a frank and kindly bearing, soon lay aside their servility, and become frank and candid in their turn.

Having now glanced at the person and address of a Hindu, we shall look at his residence. This will not be correctly fancied, without some care to divest your mind of European ideas. It is not a building of many stories and many windows, nor a red-brick cottage, nor a cottage with stone walls and slated roof, nor with leaden windows and thatch. Though the Hindus have long known glass, they have not learned to employ it for the purpose of introducing broad day within thick walls, and of happily uniting shade and sun. Fancy, then, a small cabin, seven or eight feet high, without a single window, with the walls whitewashed, and having at the base a broad stripe of red or brown, and with a flat roof, or perhaps a sloping one, covered with tiles. If the owner be poor, the house contains two small apartments; if rich, it forms a small quadrangle, open in the centre to the sky, with apartments lying on each side of the square opening. Entering this house, you find no boarded floor, no papered walls, no chairs, no tables, no mantelpieces, no grates, no delf or china-ware, no mirrors, no hangings, no timepieces, no book-shelves, no toilet-tables, and (except among the great) no carpets or bedsteads. In the nations of the north, a modest substitute for the latter might be found. In fact, all your ideas of a home are at fault. You have bare walls and a bare floor; you are among a people to whom a house is nothing more than a cover from the weather and the public gaze. A severe climate, rendering more than mere shelter essential to ease, multiplies the household inventory; and domestic happiness creates a desire to decorate the scene of our most select enjoyments. From these two causes have sprung the endless comforts of an English home: but the Hindu has not felt either of them; his native breezes are ever mild, his family relations are ever chill; and thus, while the fruits of his clime and the works of his hand have been enriching the homes of distant tribes, he has continued to dwell within the same earthen walls, to sleep on the same earthen floor, and to employ only the same apparatus of brasen pots which served his fathers three thousand years ago. Difference of wealth or rank causes little change in the character of the dwelling: the same simplicity exists until you go as high in society as a petty Rajah. It must, however, be distinctly borne in mind, that this statement, and those of this chapter generally, do not include that small fraction of the people who, inhabiting large cities, have learned in many things to imitate the English, and of whose mongrel habits some travellers speak, as if they were those of the Hindus at large.

The Hindu families are often very numerous. Several sons may be married, and each have children, yet, while the father lives, it is not unusual for them all to continue under his roof, and subject to his authority. Generally they do not receive any separate provision until his property is divided at his death; and even then they sometimes continue to reside