to be deficient in either men or means for the great work to which we are now called in India." And as for the "Church Missionary Society," its exertions merit all praise, and show what the voluntary principle, even within the Establishment, can effect. The "Special Appeal for India" is a stirring document, and has met with a gratifying response. I have added up the long lists of subscribers, and find at present, the total sum raised to be near upon £12,000, with £500 promised as annual subscription. This will help to repair the heavy losses of the society during the mutiny, and to recruit their resources. On these topics, we cannot forbear a quotation or two from the Special Appeal" already named. 66 The "The preservation of every member of our band of Missionaries calls loudly for a thank-offering to Him whose hand has shielded them from the bloody and deceitful man. But, as the labours of the Church Missionary Society are the most extensive Missionary labours within the disturbed districts, so its pecuniary losses have been the largest. destroyed Mission property has been estimated at not less than £32,000. At Meerut, Azimgurh, Jaunpore, and Gorruckpore, their Mission bungalows have been plundered and burnt, their school-houses destroyed, and their churches injured; whilst at Agra-the centre of their operations in that district of India-five Missionaries' bungalows have been plundered and burnt; a large Christian village containing 200 houses has been burnt to the ground; the churches have been damaged; the English College dismantled; and in the suburb of Secundra, the largest printing-press in India, with types, machinery, lithographic stones, and stores of paper, utterly destroyed. "Besides these losses, the Committee are constrained to anticipate a serious, and for the present almost total, defalcation in the local funds received and expended in Northern India. For several years past these local contributions, upon which the Committee set a high value, as testi The fying to the estimation in which the Society is held by men who have the opportunity of judging of its operations on the spot, have averaged £8,000 or £10,000 a year. In 1854, they amounted to £12,693. Such contributions defrayed almost the entire charge of their Missions in the Punjab and Peshawar. tranquillity of these districts during the recent revolt, in which, with the countenance and encouragement of the highest local authorities, Missions were commenced simultaneously with their British occupation, contributed mainly to the crushing of the Sepoy rebellion. On these local funds the Committee cannot for some time hence calculate. Many of the former contributors have lost their all-many are numbered with the dead. The gallant Sir Henry Lawrence was a liberal patron of the Society's labours. A civilian, who wished only to be known as 'A Sinner,' was in the habit of transmitting a monthly donation of £40 to the Society's Missions, and he has perished in the recent troubles. "In the North-west Provinces (i.e. Delhi, Meerut, Agra, Rohilcund, Allahabad, and Benares)—the district which has been the focus of the recent rebellion-the density of the population reaches its highest point, viz., 420 to the square mile, a population of thirty millions and a quarter being comprehended within an area of 72,054 square miles. Only forty-six Missionaries of all Protestant denominations are labouring amongst these masses, and only thirteen of this number belong to the Church Missionary Society. Yet they reckon at Agra 800 native Christians; at Benares, 300; at Gorruckpore, 200; at Meerut, 130 more. The scholars in their schools amount to 2,300. Let us thank God and take courage to go on." As wicked an outrage as any that shocked our feelings, and aroused our indignation against the perpetrators and our sympathy in behalf of the sufferers, in the early part of the Indian mutiny, has recently been perpetrated upon Missionaries in Syria. The sufferers in this case, are a family of American colonists, who settled in the neighbourhood of Jaffa, united the labours of the Missionary to the duties of agriculturists, and while cultivating lands and tending flocks to maintain a livelihood, sought to break up the spiritual fallow ground, and recover the spiritually lost sheep around them. Whether this has provoked the ire of the Mahomedans remains to be confirmed; but certain it is, that five or six of that belief have most wantonly and wickedly fallen upon the Christian colonists. The family was named Dixon, and consisted of Mr. and Mrs. Dixon, a married daughter and her husband -Mr. Steinbeck-and three young children. On the night of the 11th of January, three men knocked at Mr. Dixon's garden gate, pretending to be in search of a lost cow. They were not admitted, but told to be gone, as their intentions were not honourable. They went off, but soon returned, and began again to rattle. By this time it was half past 12 o'clock, and Mr. Dixon and Mr. Steinbeck went along the inclosed garden; at its gate the latter received a charge of twenty-four shots into the abdomen, on the right side. He was got into the house; but he was no sooner there than the robbers were at the door, which fell before their violence. What followed is described by the Rev. W. M. Jones, an American Missionary in the country. "Mrs. Steinbeck had just embraced her dying husband, and he had just given her a token of affection, his lips feeling very, very cold, when three of the ruffians seized and dragged her out of doors. She struggled heroically; seizing the bedstead with one hand, she held it till it fell, when she caught hold of her father, who in his turn held her till he was beaten off most cruelly. Mrs. Steinbeck is struck in the breast with a hammer, a pistol is presented to her, and then she is cuffed and knocked about, and otherwise abused till these fiends have accomplished their purposes. In the meantime a man stands sentinel over Mr. Dixon, while a fifth seizes Mrs. Dixon, and drags her aside for the same purpose. Subsequently Mrs. Steinbeck is seized by the other two, taken out and treated in like manner. When first seized the men trod upon her husband, who moved himself a little under the table as is supposed to get out of their way. Upon her return her husband was dead. This was, perhaps, twenty minutes after he was shot. Mr. Dixon watched his opportunity to slip out, with the intention of making an alarm and obtaining help, but was beaten and forced back. Money is demanded, and the purse containing but a small amount is given up. Again the demand is made, but they are told there is no more. The huge club is thrust against the side of our brother Dixon, and a gun is presented five or six times at his breast, but each time he manages to throw it aside. He begins to pray aloud, but loud praying the desperadoes will not endure, though not understanding a word. Little did they know how continuously the whole family were that night engaged in prayer. The trunks, boxes, rooms, and all the premises are thoroughly searched three times, and, not finding the object of their search, they each time become more furious and abusive. The ladies are driven and ordered about, and obliged to wait upon the villains in the most slavish manner. Mrs. Dixon is beaten. Mrs. Steinbeck is struck repeatedly with the butt of the gun on the breast. She begged them to have pity on her, saying, 'If we had thousands would we not give them to you? Is not life dearer than money? Mr. Dixon is taken by the hair, his head is brought on one side and a sword drawn to sever it from his body. The blow is parried with Mr. Dixon's hand, assisted by the faithful daughter, Mrs. Steinbeck, although in the scuffle his hand is severely wounded. Little Carrie, too, beseeches the man to spare the life of her dear grandfather. The fellow in desisting stares at the child a moment and then joins the work of pillage. The men seemed much annoyed at the crying of the children, but happily offered them no violence. The insulted and grosslyabused family were a good deal of the time kept sitting on the floor, and not allowed to speak. There were many spots of blood left upon the clothing in the trunks, supposed to be from the hand of the wounded man. The leader of the gang was a white man, an Arab, and the others were described as black men. These were masked with the Arab veil, except the eyes. The white man entered unmasked, but instantly seized a child's garment, threw it over his head, and held the corners in his mouth. The black men obeyed the beck of the white man with a quickness really surprising. were evidently in a hurry to get away. Near daylight the tormentors left, taking with them as many household goods as they could carry off. A lamp was left on the sill of the gate when they entered, so that any one coming could be seen from the house, and be shot down. None of the family ventured out till daylight. The robbers made good their retreat before it was light." The authorities are doing what they can to detect the guilty parties, and we wish them success in their endeavours. Meanwhile let us pray that the great Head of the church may make the wrath of violent Mahomedans to praise Him. They Dr. Livingstone has appeared before an English auditory for the last time at present. His visit here has been a complete and continued ovation. He has received the freedom of our largest cities. Men of science have hailed and honoured him, and learned Universities have conferred upon him their diplomas. The nobility have had him at their mansions, and royalty has admitted him to an audience. His book, for which he got £2,000 before it was published, and a large sum since, has reached a circulation of 30,000 copies. And now the government places at his disposal an expedition to Central Africa, and appoints him British Consul. The steamer, "Pearl," Captain Bedingfield, left the Mersey on the 9th of March, with Dr Livingstone, his wife, son, and brother, and the distinguished men of science who accompany the discoverer, on board. Many anxieties and anticipations follow the expedition. Science hopes to add to her facts in natural history, mineralogy, and geography. Commerce believes that her interests will be largely promoted by the fertile fields to be opened for trade. Philanthropy trusts that the fresh impulse to be given to African trade, will ultimately extinguish African slavery. We, however, trust that over and above all a new people will be given to Christ, and that, in multitudes, the sable sons of Ham will stretch out their hand to Him who alone can save. We believe, too, in his new capacity as British Consul, Dr. Livingstone will not forget his old responsibility as Ambassador for Christ. IOTA. ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE. HEBREW HUSBANDRY. THE interesting allusions to the operations of the Jewish husbandman contained in this passage are illustrated with remarkable exactness by a passage in the last work of Dr. Layard's "Discoveries in the Ruins of Nineveh and Babylon." In order that the value of the illustration may be fully perceived, it is necessary to notice the improved translation of the passage by the Rev. John Jones :"The dill is not threshed with the threshing sledge, Nor is the wheel of the wain made to roll over the cummin. Bread corn is threshed: But not for ever will he continue thus to thresh it; Though he driveth along the wheels of his wain, And his horses, he will not bruise it to dust." "The oxen and the young asses that till the ground shall eat clean provender, Which hath been winnowed with the shovel and with the fan." (xxx. 24.) "Behold I have made thee a new sharp threshing wain (sledge) armed with pointed teeth. Thou shalt winnow them, and the wind shall carry them away." (xli. 15, 16.) Referring to his late journey through Armenia, on his way to the Tigris, the writer says: "The threshing-floor had been seen in all the villages we had passed during our day's journey. The abundant harvest had been gathered in, and the corn was now to be threshed and stored for the winter. The process adopted is simple, and nearly such as it was in patriarchal times. The children either drive horses round and round over the heaps, or standing upon a sledge stuck full of sharp flints on the under part, are drawn by oxen over the scattered sheaves. Such were the 6 threshing - sledges armed with teeth' mentioned by Isaiah. In no instance are the animals muzzled-' Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn;' but they linger to pick up a scanty mouthful as they are urged on by the boys and young girls, to whom the duties of the threshing-floor are chiefly assigned. The grain is winnowed by the men and women, who throw the corn and straw together into the air with a wooden shovel, leaving the wind to carry away the chaff whilst the seed falls to the ground. The wheat is then raked into heaps, and left on the threshing floor until the tithegatherer has taken his portion. The straw is stored for the winter as provender for the cattle." The husbandman now, as in the days of the prophet, employs various instruments adapted to the various kinds of grain which he has to thresh, never using greater power than is necessary for the result required. He never has recourse to the "sledge armed with pointed teeth" when he has to thresh out the delicate "dill" and the "cummin," for which the staff and the rod are sufficient. In like manner, the Lord, who is "wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working," and from whom this discriminating skill "cometh forth," and who had been threatening his judgments against Israel, would temper mercy with judgment, and would not lay upon them a heavier weight of suffering than was required to take away their love of sin. When Draco was asked why he made death the punishment for most offences, he answered, "Small ones deserve it, and I can find no greater for the most heinous." How different is the Divine administration! Never is the sword employed, if men will but "hear the rod and him who hath appointed it." Fire is not employed where water will suffice. "The wheel of the wain" is not "made to roll over the cummin." Cain may complain that his punishment is greater than he can bear, but he dare not say it is greater than he deserves. Ezra speaks for all true Israelites when, in the review of all their afflictions, he says, "After all that is come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our great trespass, thou, our God, hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve." AN IDLE HOUR.-A person once called on Mr. Benson and introduced himself by saying that "he was come to spend an idle hour with him." "Be assured," said that eminent man, "that Mr. Benson has no idle hours. -From seventeen to eighteen hours he spends every day either in reading, or praying, or preaching. Besides, he is going to preach this evening, and he mostly spends an hour upon his knees before he goes into the pulpit."-With some degree of confusion the person withdrew; and it was hoped that he learned, by the mode of his reception, never again to disturb ministers when they are preparing to preach, or to imagine that they have idle hours to spend with idle people, who are not conscious of the value of time. WHAT IS THE STATE OF YOUR SOUL?-One day, as Felix Neff was walking in a street in the city of Lausanne, he saw, at a distance, a Iman whom he took for one of his friends. He ran up behind him, tapped him on the shoulder before looking in his face, and asked him, "What is the state of your soul, my friend?" The stranger turned; Neff perceived his error, apologized, and went his way. About three or four years after, a person came to Neff, and accosted him, saying he was indebted to him for his inestimable kindness. Neff did not recognise the man, and begged he would explain. The stranger replied, "Have you forgotten an unknown person whose shoulder you touched in a street in Lausanne, and asked him, 'How do you find your soul?' It was I; your question led me to serious reflection, and now I find it is well with my soul." This proves that apparently small means may be blessed of God for the conversion of sinners, and how many opportunities for doing good we are continually letting slip, and which thus pass irrecoverably beyond our reach. One of the questions which every Christian should propose to himself on setting out on a journey is, "What opportunities shall I have to do good?" And one of the points on which he should examine himself on his return is, "What opportunities have I lost?"-James. MY MOTHER IN HER CLOSET."Nothing," says a writer, "used to impress upon my mind so strongly the reality and excellence of religion, as my mother's counsels and prayers. Very frequently she retired with her children to a private room; and after she had read the Bible to us, and given us some good instruction and advice, knelt down with us and offered a prayer, which, for apparent earnestness and fervour, I have seldom known equalled. These seasons were always pleasant to us, and sometimes we looked forward to them with impatience. My mother seemed to me almost an angel; her language, her manner, the very expression of her countenance, indicating great nearness to the throne of grace. I could not have shown levity at such times. It would have been impossible. I felt then that it was a great blessing to have a praying mother, and I have felt it much more sensibly since. Those counsels and prayers time will never efface from my memory. They form, as it were, a part of my very constitution." SIR HUMPHRY DAVY'S WISH. -I envy no quality of mind or intellect in others-not genius, power, wit, or fancy; but if I could choose what would be most delightful, and I believe most useful to me, I should prefer a firm religious belief to every other blessing, for it makes life a discipline of goodness, creates new hopes when all earthly hopes vanish, and throws over the decay, the destruction of existence, the most gorgeous of all lights; awakens life even in death, and from corruption and decay, calls up beauty and divinity; makes an instrument of torture and of shame the ladder of ascent to paradise; and far above all combination of earthly hopes, calls up the most delightful visions, palms and amaranths, the gardens of the blessed: the security of everlasting joys, where the sensualist and the sceptic view only gloom, decay, and annihilation.-Sir Humphry Davy. GOETHE'S YEARNING AFTER PEACE. From the German.-All the literary world know, as a familiar household word, the name of 66 Goethe," that monarch of German literature. There was once a strange hour in his life. There had been ebbing and flooding in his soul, much unsatisfied longing, much restless enjoyment and dark uncertain striving; and he craved for something besides ebb and flood: for the steady flow of the waters of peace, bringing joy and comfort to his soul. Many know such hours well; they are solemn hours, when from a distance a knocking is heard at the heart, and he who knows him that knocks, finds what he seeks, and more than he has ever hoped for. Goethe did not know that stranger who knocked at the door of his heart, though he had often imagined the glory of his love; and as the unsatisfied longing seized on his heart, he wrote a sweet word: do you understand it? "Fairest amongst heaven's daughters, |