64 66 THE BOY AND HIS FARTHINGS. Ar the anniversary of a Sundayschool at Copthall, a village in Essex, on Sunday, October 5th, 1834, whilst the collection was being made, a little boy, about seven years of age, put a bag upon the plate. As it was rather heavy, the collector was curious to ascertain its contents. On examination, it was found to contain two hundred and eighty-five farthings, or five shillings and eleven pence farthing. Upon inquiry, it was found that the boy was in the habit of going on errands for his mother, and was allowed the farthings in change to be disposed of as he pleased, which he perseveringly saved, and generously gave to the support of the Sundayschool. I wish all the little boys and girls who read this would think whether they could not deny themselves the gratification of spending their halfpennies and farthings on themselves, instead of turning them to such real use as this poor little boy did, and having the great pleasure of feeling that, though so very young, they have been able to do good to others. Poetry. "THE KING'S BUSINESS REQUIRED HASTE." "So the posts that rode upon mules and camels went out, being hastened and pressed on by the king's commandment."-ESTHER viii. 14. HASTEN the post! send forth the king's decree! Go forth with haste, bearing within thy hand Say not, "The way is rough, the journey great, Still fearful art thou? Oh, then, hear once more! Who that has known the Saviour's wondrous love O yes! an angel's breast would thrill with joy Go forth with joy: Jesus shall with thee stand, Lord of the harvest, hear our earnest prayer, Price 6d. per doz., or 3s. 6d. per 100; 20 copies sent free by post for 10d., paid in advane. Published by GALL & INGLIS, 6 George Street, Edinburgh. HOULSTON & WRIGHT, London. entially received by the simple villagers, who listen with credulous attention to the wily mendicant, who has his own objects in view, generally of a bad character which will not bear the light. The following instance occurred at Thanna, a town in the hill country "We went this afternoon to visit a fakír. He was a very eloquent man, or rather extremely verbose, so that no one else could hardly say a word, as he gave utterances to the praises of Krishna and Shiv, with his eyes half staring out of his head, and with rather vehement action. We left him before very long, after telling him the truth about his own religion and the true one. This gentleman is a priest also. Yesterday we were speaking to the people, and asked a man opposite who he was. He said he was a priest of Ram. Just then two men in yellow dresses came past. We stopped them, to ask who they were, and they said they were priests of Nanak, so we are in the land of priests. There are priests of Ram, and Shiv, and Sita, and Nanak, and He lives like a gentleman, and in one of the prettiest places imaginable—in the middle of a clump of trees, on a level piece of ground, which terminates in a precipice, with | a little river murmuring along its shingle bed beneath, and the hills rising just on the opposite side. Behind the house is a much higher hill, partially covered with snow, and on the right hand a view of the valley, with a pretty little waterfall in the I doubt not of every other false foreground. We found the fakír Hindoo creed besides, and plenty of lying on his bed, covered with a them; but ministers of the true God, handsome quilt, just opposite a low none at all." window, so that he could see and converse with every one through the window without the trouble of getting up. His house was as clean as any house in England: there was not even a straw lying about. The gentleman of the house, was not, I think, in a very good humour to-day, for he would neither come out to see us, nor invite us in, nor even get up from his bed, so we could only have a little conversation through the window. At Sirinagur, the capital of Kashmír, our missionary found a number of fakírs, some from Calcutta, some from Bombay, &c. There were twentyfour of them living together, who professed to have left the world for the service of God. But they would not hear a word about religion; so much so, that one old surly man, wrapped in his piece of cloth, called out, "We don't want to hear you, sir: we want neither you nor your books." These THE FAKIRS OF INDIA. men are like the Pharisees of old; they think themselves so holy that they want no Saviour. "They that are whole need not a physician." seen. Another mode of obtaining merit is to make a vow of silence, and several persons are known who have never spoken a word for several years. The Rev. Mr. Gogerly says, "One of my missionary brethren once went to a place called Kalee Ghaut, near to a celebrated idol-temple, where many of these wretched people are daily to be Having preached the gospel to a crowd of Hindoos who flocked around him, he entered into conversation with them, and afterwards distributed among them a few religious tracts. His attention was particularly directed to one man who was sitting at a little distance from the crowd, but near enough to hear all that had been said. His appearance was anything but inviting; his body was covered with the mud of the Ganges, he had scarcely arag of clothing on his person, and the skeleton of a large serpent was hanging round his neck. The missionary began to speak to him on the folly of trusting to these means for obtaining salvation, and told him of Jesus Christ, and the way of life through Him; and having asked a question which required a reply, the devotee put his finger to his lip, to intimate that he was dumb; and the 67 bystanders then stated that he was a Monobrotee, or a man under a vow of silence; that he had not uttered a syllable for more than four years, and the vow was to continue for several years longer! The missionary, finding he could hear, though he would not speak, pointed out the insufficiency of all human merit to obtain the pardon ofsin and the sanctification of the heart, and insisted on the fact that this vow of silence, instead of being meritorious, was a great sin against God, who had given us a voice to glorify him, and à tongue to speak his praise. Receiving, however, no answer to all that he said, he retired, placing on the ground before him two tracts, telling him that if he would not speak, he might read. A few days afterwards, to the great surprise of the missionary, this very devotee entered his study; the serpent was still hanging round his neck, and his body was still covered with mud; but, what was more surprising, the man spoke! Taking the serpent from his neck, he cast it on the ground, and said, 'My vow is broken. For four years I have not spoken a word; and for six years more I should have remained silent, had not you come and proved the insufficiency of man's merit, and the all-sufficiency of Christ's merit to take away sin. I read your books, I thought over the matter, and I am 68 HISTORY OF DIANA, A POOR HOTTENTOT ORPHAN. now convinced of the folly and wickedness of my conduct. I have come to seek further instruction in the things of God. I fly (he continued) in the face of all that the Brahmins and Shasters teach; my caste is gone, my hopes of life are over, all men will hate and shun me as an apostate: but I am willing to renounce all for Christ.' On hearing this wonderful statement, the missionary read the Word of God to him, and taught him the way of salvation through the atonement of the cross. "After a time, he said, 'For four years I was dumb, not speaking a word; henceforth I will speak loudly, and speak continually, and I will travel from place to place with this sacred book (the Bible) in my hand, and will call on my countrymen to behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world.' He added, 'I should not be surprised if they kill me when they hear my voice, but God's will be done." He then left, and began his travels to distant parts. For a short time, intelligence was received concerning him; he was seen in various places, preaching the gospel to the idolaters of the land, and living on the charity of those who felt inclined to relieve his wants. All accounts of him afterwards ceased, and we never could ascertain whether he was alive or dead; but it was generally supposed that he died from fatigue and starvation. In all probability, he fell by the way-side, faint and hungry, without a friend to relieve his wants, or to render him the least assistance in his dying moments, and that his body was devoured by the jackals or vultures which abound in that land. May it not be said of this poor man, 'Is not this a brand plucked from the burning?"" From this fact we learn how true it is, that the dark places of the earth are the habitations of cruelty; and we are also reminded of that scripture which saith, "They are feeding upon ashes; a deceived heart hath led them astray, and they are going down to hell with a lie in their right hand." It further shows the value of missionary operations, and the importance of helping those institutions which send forth the messengers of mercy to the dark and benighted children of men. HISTORY OF DIANA, A POOR HOTTENTOT ORPHAN. A GOOD while ago, in Southern Africa, | house the parent had died. Though a little motherless Hottentot was left to the care of a farmer, at whose the little orphan was born free, the cruel man unjustly held her in a state |