endowments "for pious and beneficial purposes. And when the parliament of England in 1813, required a lakh a year to be spent on public education, it was spent in teaching false history, false science, and vicious morals, and in printing thousands of volumes of good for nothing Persian, Arabic, and Sanscrit lumber. But those it appears were our best days. How changed are all things now! It is feared that our officers are becoming christians indeed, and that they may wish the natives, sepoys included, to be christians too. Doubtless this will happen some day. It may happen soon. Imagine the calamity-all the officers in earnest as bad as Colonel Wheler, really believing what they profess, treating the sepoys as immortal beings, and even teaching them the truths of christianity!

I understand that he has been thus guilty, and that he is to be punished. Sometime ago there was a story of a gallant servant of the public carrying off by force a native girl from her village; and I think I have heard certain strange stories, not very dissimilar, of others. I believe, Sir, that if you and I were to compare notes, we should agree as to certain practices prevalent before the insurrection in the city of Cabul, and prevalent not a hundred miles from some of our possessions in Burmah. But these things are matters of course; they do not "offend the natives;" not at all. Very different is the reverse of these things. Here is an officer who has been guilty, of what? He has been giving away his whole property in works of benevolence; he has been labouring in every station, where he has resided, to do good, and the results of his labours have been manifest. Here at Barrackpore he has been living I think for four years, and in that time has been consistently and steadily going on in the same way; he has had com mand of three regiments, and lately has been posted to this 34th ;—a band of men never regularly enlisted, who have been disaffected for long time. Wonderful to relate while in command of this corps he goes on just as before! He neither curses nor swears, nor recommends the sepoys to worship any one of their favourite gods! And then what happens? There are commotions at Berhampore, Dinapore, Sealkote, and Umballah; even in Fort William itself. Cartridges have been given out strongly suspected to be greased with lard. The 19th regiment say so. Others say so. There is general disaffection, general alarm. What then? The case is clear; the secret of the whole is this man, who does not do as others do: he is the offender. Mr. A. B. says so; Mr. C. D. says so; Mr. E. F. says so; every body says so. Then, Whom shall we hang?" Here is the offender. The jury is unanimous, and the verdict is given with warm applause from Ensign Griff, Lieut. Bully, Capt. Seedy, Major Longbow, Colonel Calf, General Tumbler, and all the other officers at mess, with the visitors present, including that, devoted friend of the poor natives Mr. Blue, and that exemplary Magistrate Tarlington Rake, Esquire.

66

Perhaps you have heard of a similar case? I have somewhere; I think it is in a book written by a tinker. The man's name was Bunyan. The prisoner he saw condemned was named Faithful. He was a most impracticable person-walked straightforward through Vanity Fair, and disapproved of all the common ways of that ancient and reputable town. The indictment was suitable to the occasion; so were the Judge and the Jury. The charge in summing up the evidence, was particularly appropriate. I need not remind you of the whole story. You remember that the Jurymen spoke separately. Mr. Blindman, the foreman saw clearly that the prisoner was a heretic. "I hate the very look of him," said Mr. Malice, Hang

66

Who

him, Hang him," said Mr. Heady; "my heart rises against him," said Mr. Enmity." Hanging is too good for him" said Mr. Cruelty; and said Mr. Implacable, "might I have all the world given me, I could not be reconciled to him; therefore let us forthwith bring him guilty of death Now how strange it is, that there is no new thing under the sun! would have thought that we should hear the very same sounds over again after a lapse of two hundred years? Yet surely, if I am not much mistaken, we have heard, or I have dreamt, of just such another verdict. And this happily settles the matter. It is now clear that we know who is to blame. It is not true that these Lower Provinces have improperly been left without an adequate European force; it is not true that various vexing orders about vaccination, and the pension have been issued; it is not true that the Commander-in-Chief is a novice in command, and is absent from the Presidency; it is not true that new rifles have been issued, and that some of the troops want more pay; it is not true that another officer had command of the 34th up to two or three months ago. All this is untrue. thing which is true, is the finding of the Jury. The man who has lived like a christian, and has preached to those who chose to listen, is guilty. That is the conclusion. And there the matter ends. We are thus all satisfied. Every one is exonerated from blame. It all rests on him. We have all done at all times, exactly the right thing. With great sagacity we have discovered the real delinquent, exactly as fifty years ago Major Scott Waring did after the Vellore Mutiny. It was quite plain then, that the cause was not the intrigues of Tippoo's sons, nor any order of the Madras Commander-in-Chief,-no, it was Dr. Carey's preaching in Bengal.

The

Well now Sir, this may be a very satisfactory and amusing business to some, but it is quite possible that others will not see the joke of it, and will ask for the law under which a christian life, and the act of giving christian instruction to those who desire it, are rendered criminal. Perhaps they may even go further, and honour the man whom the fashion or the cowardice of the day condemns, and will boldly challenge the justice of his sentence. That, for instance, is my line. I do honour him. I would prefer his punishment to the triumph of those who "can't commit his crimes." I do not believe one syllable of the stories about his producing disaffection. I know on the contrary of cases in which he has won gratitude and love. I am persuaded that the natives know well enough when they see a self-denying, benevolent and holy man, and they reverence him more than we do. And as to the trumpery stories about their fearing for their caste because their Colonel is such a man, I treat them all as worthy of a place only with the old lying prophecies of rebellions, and every thing else that was evil, which would surely follow the abolition of Suttees. There are always many people ready with idle tales of the kind, who when pressed to it will add all the necessary details and circumstances to make up a terrifying case. But they have been crying wolf too often. Their envy and malice are detected, and it is hardly to be expected that we are to go on for ever, persecuting every man whose morals and whose zeal shame these alarmists. It is indeed little enough that they have to build all their stories on! They can find but one Colonel, and they find it hard to make out a case against him. plague they dread has not spread beyond him; they cannot discover that the disease of preaching extends among the officers beyond him :—what a pity then, that they should pay so ill a compliment to the Sepoys whom they extol, and to the good sense of the Government whom they profess to

The

respect, as to represent the empire in danger, the whole army tainted with disaffection through one man's preaching!

Ten years ago after Mr. Lewin's nonsense at Madras, the Court of Directors sent out orders that none of their servants were to take part in supporting missions, but Lord Hardinge had the good sense to put that dispatch in his pocket. The same sort of orders would be repeated, and would be enforced now, if some folks had their will-but the question is what is the use of all this sort of thing? Men of sense ought to know by this time, whither we are tending. The day certainly cannot be very distant, when the conversion of the natives, sepoys and all, will be accomplished; and in the interval prior to that time, there must be a transition period, when some will begin to consider, some to be alarmed, some to come forward boldly, some to shrink back, and then, gradually, the conflict between light and darkness must become more and more violent and extensive. I apprehend that this period will be contemporaneous with the progress of zeal, and earnestness, and genuine religion, among the Europeans. Here is a prospect for our alarmists! But there is no help for it. Not even the Court of Directors can help it. Orders of silence; patronage of error under the name of neutrality; nothing of that sort will now answer the purpose; there is a decree of a higher Power than the Government of India in this matter, and assuredly the time will come, when even sepoys will be evangelized. Doubtless it was distasteful in olden times, to heathen Emperors, to find a sect "every where spoken against," spreading in the Roman legions; doubtless Cornelius and all the christian centurions, were exceedingly objectionable persons, but still, there were those who went on teaching the truths of christianity notwithstanding, and it was a general belief among christians, that those who had themselves been enlightened, were bound to enlighten others. I believe that that belief exists still, and that it is not so unwarrantable as some imagine. If the practical work to which it leads is thought to endanger our empire, I then must ask what sort of idea does our "empire" suggest in the minds of such thinkers? My belief is that our empire was planted here for this very purpose, and that it will flourish just in proportion as it accomplishes God's design; and as to that statesmanship which shrinks in alarm from the approach of this result; which trembles at the progress of conversion; and which estimates India only by the degree of patronage and power it brings to Leadenhall Street, I can only wonder to find it still existing. Let the wise men whose large minds and large hearts cannot embrace this view, give up the case at once. Influences are at work which they cannot control, and which it is plain they do not even understand. They may rest assured that they will not arrest this inevitable tide by their imperious mandates, nor escape the discomfiture of all their schemes for propping up and perpetuating falsehood and error, by the present sacrifice of a victim.

However, I rejoice to say that I do not believe that the Government of India will adopt any measures characterized by folly or by injustice, in this time of difficulty. Hitherto they have acted with calmness, wisdom, and firmness, and I do not suppose that they will now give the 34th an excuse for their conduct, by removing their Colonel, or give colour to the imputations which are diligently cast on one of the most upright and noble minded officers in the army. It is not alleged that Colonel Wheler has interfered with the religious rites of the sepoys; it is not pretended that he has neglected his duty as an officer; it is simply asserted that he has spoken openly

of the truths of christianity, even to those sepoys who chose to listen. That is the head and front of his offending! For this, the whole blame of the mutinous conduct of the disaffected regiments is to be transferred from the ill-conditioned soldiery to him! But it is not done yet, and I shall be not a little surprised, and people at home will probably be still more surprised, and the next generation even more, if the present Government of India are betrayed into any such infatuation.

I am, Sir,

April 13, 1857.

Yours faithfully,

A LOVER OF GOOD MEN.

THE LOVE OF CHRIST.

WHAT a theme for the mind of man to dwell upon: what a subject for contemplation! A love so deep that the thoughts of man cannot grasp its boundless depth, nor the heart conceive its wondrous sublimity. A love which constrained him to leave his Father's radiant glory; the company of the angelic hosts, and the mansions of bliss, to take on himself our nature : to undergo persecution, contempt, and contumely, and to die an accursed death upon Calvary's height. Just go in imagination to Gethsemane's garden; see him there, (while his disciples are slumbering and sleeping) sweating, as it were, great drops of blood falling to the ground; such was the agony of his soul. Proceed with him to Pilate's bar, there to be crowned with a crown of thorns. Hear the people, in the fury of their hatred to him and to his doctrines, crying, "Away with him, crucify him, crucify him." See him from thence fainting under his load of shame; and on to Calvary witness the taunts and revilings to which he is subjected to. Hear him saying "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" And again, in the last parting struggle, "It is finished." And he gave up the ghost.

Sinner! this was borne for you and me, that we through his death might be reconciled unto God. For us did our Saviour thus render up himself as

a sacrifice and ransom.

"O, for this love, let rocks and hills

Their lasting silence break;

And all harmonious human tongues
The Saviour's praises speak.'

Truly is this the sweetest, loftiest, noblest theme that tongue can speak of; pen can write of; mind can think of; harp can praise, or heart can feel. To embrace it is the salvation of sinners; to despise it is the loss of souls; to know it lost, is the bitterest curse of hell; to know it gained, the highest happiness of heaven. Well might we say of the love of God what Luther said of music,—"If I were to speak of it, I would not know when to begin, and I would not know when to end."

Market Harboro'.

W. L.

83

PRACTICAL HINTS ON PREACHING.

PLAIN PREACHING.

In this respect ministers want "preaching to;" at least I think so. Of the objections to the use of simple language, which are commonly brought, I am not wholly ignorant; but they seem to me to have very little weight. Why should not simple language, such as is adapted to the apprehension of the ignorant adult, and even children, be as captivating when spoken to an audience, as when written in a book? Yet I have always observed that those books which interest the young most, engage most deeply the attention of parents. In like manner, I am fully persuaded that no sermons would be more popular among parents, than those which should be more successful in engaging the attention of their children.

Is it not a pity, then, that a reform cannot be effected? If an audience consists of five hundred adults and five hundred children, of whom none but two hundred of adults understand the sermon, would it not be important to interest, instruct, and improve the remaining eight hundred? Yet it has been my lot to hear, probably, a thousand sermons, which to a greater proportion than four-fifths of the audience, were to all intents and purposes delivered in an unknown tongue.—EVANGELIST.

Notes on a faithful ministry.

"Who is sufficient for these things?"-Our sufficiency is of God, &c. "Think not how can I make a sermon soonest and easiest, but how can

I make the most profitable sermon for my hearers."-Dr. Watts.

66

To have prayed well, is to have studied well.-A dry sermon can never be a good one.”—Blair.

"Take heed that you pay an habitual regard to divine influence, as that without which you cannot enjoy a holy liberty in your work, or have any reason to expect success.

66

I do not know a more trembling thought a minister can have thanHow can I approve myself so that I may be looked upon as a gift from Christ to his church.'

66

The Scriptures nowhere more fearfully denource woes and God's judg ments, than when the objects of them are unfaithful pastors. The sins of teachers are the teachers of sins.'"-B.

"We should not forsake the truth because it is plain, nor take disgust at our duty because it is uniform and important."-Reed.

"Ministers of Christ, let your performances be plain and scriptural; . choose for your pulpit subjects the plainest and most needful truths, and endeavour to make them plainer."-Matthew Henry.

If the minister's words be not understood, it is of no consequence in what language they are spoken; and we cannot expect the Holy Spirit to give a blessing on unintelligible language: I mean unintelligible to the many, though a few of superior attainments may admire them."-Dr. Edwards. Religion is not to be rendered abstract and curious.”→ Cecil.

66

"Ministers must study how to convince and get within men, and how to bring to each truth to the quick.”—Baxter.

66

Paul, that master workman, saith nothing of what he had wrought, but, only of what Christ had wrought by him."-Matthew Henry.