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all the mental development, which it is the province of piety to promote. It is by no means fitting that they who are to be " kings and priests unto God, and to reign with him for ever and ever," should sit down contented with the imbecility and the ignorance of children. You will present but a poor exhibition of gratitude to Him, who has made you "joint-heirs with Christ," and destined you to be eternal companions with Him who was "God manifest in the flesh," if you do not labour to become worthy, at least by some slight intellectual discipline of his society. Give yourselves, then, to fervent supplication to Him, who spake as never man spake, and who can teach as never man taught. And, with all your prayers, devote yourselves to frequent, protracted, regular trains of meditation on divine things. This will accelerate your growth in holiness on earth, and, in the world above, will prepare you for a desirable station among the chosen of God.-American Baptist Magazine, August.

PENN'S TREATY WITH THE INDIANS.

THE religious principles of William Penn, which led him to practise the most scrupulous morality, did not permit him to look upon the king's patent, or legal possession according to the laws of England, as sufficient to establish his right to Pennsylvania, without purchasing it by fair and open bargain of the natives, to whom only it properly belonged. He had therefore instructed commissioners, who had arrived in America before him, to buy it of the latter, and to make with them at the same time a treaty of eternal friendship. This the commissioners had done; and this was the time when, by mutual agreement between him and the Indian chiefs, it was to be publicly ratified. He proceeded, therefore, accompanied by his friends, consisting of men, women, and young persons of both sexes, to Conquannoc, the Indian name for the place where Philadelphia now stands. On his arrival there he found the Sachems and their tribes assembling. They were seen in the woods as far as the eye could reach, and looked frightful, both on account of their number and their arms. The Quakers are reported to have been but a handful in comparison, and these without any weapon-so that dismay and terror had come upon them, had they not confided in the righteousness of their cause.

It is much to be regretted, when we have accounts of minor treaties between Penn and the Indians, that in no historian can be found an account of this, though so many mention it, and though all concur in considering it as the most glorious of any in the annals of the world. There are, however, relations in Indian speeches, and traditions in Quaker families descended from those present on the occasion, from which we may learn something concerning it. It appears that, though the parties were to assemble at Conquannoc, the treaty was made a little higher up, at Shackamaxon. Upon this Kensington now stands. There

was at Shackamaxon an elm of prodigious size. To this the leaders of both sides repaired, approaching each other under its widely-spreading branches. William Penn appeared in his usual clothes. He had no insignia of eminence, and was distinguished only by wearing a sky-blue sash round his waist, made of silk net-work, and of no larger apparent dimensions than an officer's military sash, and much like it except in colour. Near him were Colonel Markham, his relation and secretary, and his friend Pearson; after these followed a train of Quakers. Before him were carried various articles of merchandize, which, when they came near the Sachems, were spread upon the ground. He held a roll of parchment, containing the confirmation of the treaty of purchase and amity, in his hand. One of the Sachems, who was the chief of them, then put on his own head a kind of chaplet, in which appeared a small horn. This, among the primitive eastern nations, and, according to Scripture language, was an emblem of kingly power; and whenever the chief who had a right to wear it, put it on, it was understood that the place was made sacred, and the persons of all present inviolable. Upon the putting on of this horn the Indians threw down their bows and arrows, and seated themselves round their chiefs in the form of a half-moon upon the ground. The chief Sachem then announced to William Penn, by means of an interpreter, that the nations were ready to hear him.

Having thus been called upon, he began. "The Great Spirit," he said, "who made him and them, and who knew the innermost thoughts of man, knew that he and his friends had a hearty desire to live in peace and friendship with them, and to serve them to the utmost of their power. It was not their custom to use hostile weapons against their fellow-creatures, for which reason they had come unarmed. Their object was not to do injury, and thus provoke the Great Spirit, but to do good. They were then met on the broad pathway of good faith and good will, so that no advantage was to be taken on either side, but all was to be openness, brotherhood, and love."

He then unrolled the parchment, and by means of the same interpreter, conveyed to them, article by article, the conditions of the purchase, and the words of the compact made for their eternal union. Among other things, they were not to be molested in their lawful pursuits even in the territory they had alienated, for it was to be common to them and the English. They were to have the same liberty to do all things therein relating to the improvement of their grounds, and providing sustenance for their families, which the English had. If any disputes should arise between the two, they should be settled by twelve persons, half of whom should be English, and half Indians. He then paid them for the land, and made them many presents beside from the merchandize which had been spread before them. Having done this, he laid the roll of parchment on the ground, observing again, that the ground should be common to both people. He would not do as the Marylanders did, that is, call them children or brothers, only; for parents were apt to whip their children too severely, and brothers sometimes would differ; neither would he compare the friendship between him and them to a chain, for the rain might sometimes rust it, or a tree

might fall and break it; but he should consider them as the same flesh and blood with the Christians, and the same as if one man's body were to be divided into two parts. He then took up the parchment, and presented it to the Sachem who wore the horn in the chaplet, and desired him and the other Sachems to preserve it carefully for three generations, that their children might know what had passed between them, just as if he had remained himself with them to repeat it."

It is to be regretted that the speeches of the Indians on this memorable day have not come down to us. It is known, however, that they solemnly pledged themselves, according to the manner of their country, to live in love with William Penn and his children as long as the sun and moon should endure.

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Thus ended this celebrated treaty, of which more has been said in the way of praise than of any other ever transmitted to posterity. "This," says Voltaire, was the only treaty between those people and the Christians that was not ratified by an oath, and that never was broken."

FEMALES IN CHINA.

It has been justly remarked that a nation's civilization may be estimated by the rank which females hold in society. If the civilization of China be judged of by this test, she is surely far from occupying that first place which she so strongly claims. Females have always been regarded with contempt by the Chinese. Their ancient sages

seem to have considered them scarcely worthy of their attention. The sum of the duties they required them to perform was, to submit to the will of their masters. The lady, say they, who is to be betrothed to a husband, ought to follow blindly the wishes of her parents, yielding implicit obedience to their will. From the moment she is joined in wedlock, she ceases to exist-her whole being is absorbed in that of her lord. She ought to know nothing but his will, and to deny herself in order to please him. Pan-hwuy-pan, who is much admired as an historian, composed a book of instructions for her own sex, in which she treats of their proper station in society, the deportment they should exhibit, and the duties they ought to perform. She teaches them that they "hold the lowest rank among mankind, and that employments the least honourable ought to be, and in fact are their lot." She inculcates entire submission to their husbands, and tells them in very plain terms that they ought to become abject slaves in order to be good wives. We cannot expect that these doctrines, inculcated as they were by a lady, who ought to advocate the cause of her sex, and by one held in so high repute as is Pan-hwuy-pan, will be overlooked by the "lords of creation;" especially as they accord so perfectly with their domineering disposition in China.

The

Confucius, the prince of letters, divorced his wife without assigning any cause for doing it; and his followers have invariably adopted similar arbitrary measures in their treatment of the weaker sex. price which is paid to the parents of the bride, constitutes her at once a saleable commodity, and causes her to be regarded as differing little

from a mere slave. In the choice of a partner for life, she acts only a passive part. She is carried to the house of the bridegroom, and there disposed of for life by her parents.

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The birth of a female is a matter of grief in China. The father and mother, who had ardently hoped, in the unborn babe, to embrace a son, feel disappointed at the sight of a wretched daughter. Many vows and offerings are made before their idols in order to propitiate their favour and secure the birth of a son. The mercy of the compassionate Kwansyin especially, is implored to obtain this precious gift; but after they have spent large sums of money in this pious work, the inexorable goddess fills the house with mourning at the birth of a daughter. Anciently," says Pan-hwuy-pan, “the female infant was thrown upon some old rags by the side of its mother's bed, and for three days was scarcely spoken or thought of. At the end of that time it was carried to a temple by the father, accompanied by attendants with bricks and tiles in their hands." "The bricks, and tiles," says Pan-hwuy-pan, in her comment on these facts, "signify the contempt and suffering which are to be her companions and her portion. Bricks are of no use except to form enclosures and to be trodden under foot; and tiles are useless except when they are exposed to the injuries of the air." The Sheking, one of the venerated ancient books, says,

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When a daughter is born,

"She sleeps on the ground,

"She is clothed with a wrapper.

"She plays with a tile.

"She is incapable either of evil or good."

This last assertion is explained thus: "If she does ill, she is not a woman; and if she does well, she is not a woman; a slavish submission is her duty and her highest praise." At the present day, as well as anciently, the female infant is not unfrequently an object of disgust to its parents, and contempt to all the inmates of the family. As she grows up, her feet are so confined and cramped that they never exceed the size of infancy, and render it impossible for her ever to walk with ease or safety. Small feet, that badge of bondage, which deprives them of the power of locomotion, confines them to the inner apartments, except when poverty forces them to earn their livelihood abroad by labour, which they render exceedingly difficult and painful.

Females of the higher class seldom leave the house, except in sedan chairs. Their lives are but an honourable captivity. They have few or no real enjoyments; are ignorant of almost every thing-very few of them being able to read, and they live and die little more than mere cyphers in human society. Pale and emaciated, these spend the greatest part of their lives in embellishing their persons; while females of the lower classes, whose feet are necessarily permitted to grow to the size which the God of nature designed, perform all the drudgery of husbandry and other kinds of work. These last are in general very industrious, and prove to be helpmates to their husbands. Being remarkable for their good, sound understandings, they manage their families with a great deal of care and prudence; and so far as industry and economy are concerned, they are exemplary mothers. Notwithstanding

the degradation in which they are held, they are generally far superior in intellect to the common cast of Asiatic women. They are very ingenious in their needle work, and the like; and to be a good mother, in the estimation of this class of the Chinese, a woman must be a weaver. But it is to be regretted that they have very little regard for the cleanliness of either their persons or houses. Their children crawl in the dirt, and the few articles of furniture in their dwellings are covered with filth.

Infanticide of females is not unknown among the Chinese. They are far from regarding this crime with the horror it deserves. "It is only a female," is the answer generally given when they are reproved for it.

May the Father of mercies soon send his glorious Gospel to China, that woman here may be raised from her present degradation. It is Christianity alone which assigns to woman her proper rank, and secures the rights of the weaker sex against the encroachments of the stronger. In vain shall we expect any great amelioration of the moral condition of this nation, so long as the wife, the daughter, the sister, and the mother, are regarded and treated as slaves. Where females do not mingle in society, the manners of the other sex become coarse and inelegant. All the finer feelings of human nature, which can be produced only by the friendly and happy intercourse of the social and domestic circle, where the sexes meet on terms of intellectual and moral, as well as civil equality, are of course unknown. This is too much the case in China; and the "celestial empire," with its boasted high state of civilization, is peopled by men, unpolished by the influence which the mild and amiable qualities of female companions never fail to exert upon the manners of "the sterner sex." This remark might be considered trivial, were it not that the influence which the seclusion of females has upon Chinese society, is too baneful to be regarded with indifference. How much does China lose in consequence of the incapacity of its mothers to instruct their children, during that early age when the mind is most easily made to prefer activity to sluggishness, and the heart receives it first and strongest bias to virtue or to vice. Were this deficiency supplied, children would receive the first and best rudiments of knowledge, before they are old enough to enter a school; and mothers, instead of the insults and contempt which they now have to endure, would be treated with kindness and respect.

THE ELDER SISTER.

"WHO is that graceful young lady, with the two little girls tripping on each side of her, my dear Mrs. Grey," said an elderly female to her companion, as they were walking up High-street. Mrs. Grey looked at the beautiful girl as she smilingly nodded in passing, and replied, "That is the oldest daughter of my dear friend, Mrs. Cleveland. She is one of the most interesting females in the city, and I am often at a loss which to admire most, the judicious manner in which my friend has brought up her eldest daughter, or the excellent principles which regulate the minutest parts of Julia's conduct. She has been taught

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