Vol. VI, No, .41.-= r Whole No. 300. Nottrg. (For the American Presbyterian.) " Speak to the earth and it shall teach thee :—Who knoweth not in all these that , :the hand of the Lord hath wrought this? Jon zit. 8, 9.'1 Divan's beauty in the morning's dawn, When dew-drops deck the verdant lawn, And gladly falls the sun's first beam On mountain, valley, hill and stream. There's beauty in the Western sky When gorgeous clouds are rolling by. When fades the soft and summer light Before the dark approach of night. There's beauty in the midnight hour, When deepest gloom would round us lover; Were not yon moon and silvery star All brightly gleaming from afar. Time, on its swiftly flying wings, No scene, no season to us brings, That doth not in each aspect wear The garb of all that's bright and fair. Thus let me still in all my ways Declare my glorious Saviour's praised Let every look, and act, and thought Show forth the work .whioh he bath , wrought: A work so fair, though but begun— A soul set free, its race to run, Till, in the kingdoni Of His-grace, It finds its hoped-for restintplace. APRIL, 1862. • OUR FOREIGN LETTER. .Bible Circulation in India—Murder of Mis sionaries-=Madagascar and Radama Progress in Italy—Human Instrumental ities too much Exacted—Ratazzi Pio Nono and hia Rebellious Children—France. and Protestantism-Death of. Austria's Tyranni—lhnument to alluin--English Parliament—Education and Church Rates —Free Church--- Stirling Tract; Enter, prise—Prayer for Ainerica l etc. THE EAST. SlNen I last wrote, cheering tidings have reached us from the. East, well calculated to invigorate the faith, and hope, and love of all who are longing to see the saints of the Most High possessing the kingdom over all the earth. Bible circulation has been steadily increasing in India—the Bombay Presidency —for several years. The last report on the subject says, there " is no doubt that a larger number of copies of the Word of God has been circulated in ,the Presidency this year than for several, years pasf." As _closely allied with this, I may: mention that a tran slation of the Old and NeW Testament Scrip tures in the Gujarati hakbeen com . pleted, and is now in circulation in that missionary' pro vince, iheraa markeliOhimige4s takinglArheftY unfaVorable to: easte•dignity, which, as Spur geon said of a minister he described, might "die of, dignity." One missionary says in a letter lately received,. "inany,of the lighest caste sit with the' lowest in the third class railway carriages," which, I think, is more than some of the pro-slavery Americans would do with the poor men whose misfortune it is to have a blaok•skin. If the idols 'of India are to• be, dethroned and . demolished, it shall surely belly the instrumentality of the Bible, as Dagon fell before the ark of God. There fore all Christians should rejoice to hear of increased' Bible circulation, and should, -61 - God speed to the noble and beneVolent cause in a practical way. The intelligence from China is of a min• gled character—painful and pleasing. The Rev. Dr. Parker, and the'Rev. J. H. Holmes, both Amefiean missionaries, have been ,mur derail:by a party of rebels in the district of Shantung. It may be—we hope it shall be —though it is dark avenue to a bright fu ture, that their blood shall eloquently and successfully preaoh the Gospel for which they " fighting fell." Under the righteous reign of our enthroned Redeemer, who orders the -destinies of a universe whose kings are only ministers of His, the old traditional policy has been discarded as a bad servant, and ,a new policy adopted, under the leadership of Prince'Kung, whose political views are-said to be very liberal and enlightened, for-China. His accession to power seems very providen tial, for the settlement of Dr. Lockhart in .Pekin, where he (Dr. L.) reports his prospects to be discouraging. The bloody Ranavalona, Queen of Mada gascar, and an enemy of all good, has ceased from - troubling Israel. She has gone, shall . X say ? drunk with, the blood of the saints to the judgment seat; and her son, and succes sor on the throne, Radama 11, as inaugura ted a liberal reign, by opening the prison doors and setting the captives free, by strik ing the fetters from the, enslaved, and recall ing the persecuted refugee to his peaceful home, and by granting Europeans access to his kingdom, which was almost as churlish as Japan .used to be. „Education and com merce are to be encouraged, and religious toleration secured, so thatthe natives friendly to Christianity, are beginning : , to breathe more freely, and to emerge: item a forced obscurity . A. Protestant minister from Mauritius, with an interpreter and twenty marmites, native porters, two Amish. Priests, and four sisters of charity, have arrived in the capitol. Pro bably ere this, Mr. Ellis, aniither Protestant, has reached the island. What are these among so many? Surely protestants who, for yearsl have been looking to Madagascar with weeping eyes, shall not be slow to go in to possess the land, and sow the wheat, so that the emissaries of Rome shall find their unwearying propagandism for once outdone. Let Christians remember to pray that Rada ma 11, who has , begun so well may not be hindered, but guided of God to the knowledge of the truth which is the - basis of all sound Ebert-y r and the most powerful ally. of any goverianent. • THE CONTINENT. The amazing progress made for a time in the liberation of Italy from a dark despotism that devoured its own children as fast as theymere born, and the consolidation of the new Italian kingdom under good Victor Emmanuel, has been Checked. Many months have passed, and very few visible'advantages have been gained. No dottbt , there may have been—perhaps I should.say, there , has been —a strong under-current of progress, undis covered by the most clear-headed and keen sighted politicians of the day. -Why the Lines. surface check ? is a question for the thought ful. I shall attempt to reply, only by asking another question. • May it not be the doing of the Lord to 'foam' us against Unduly. ele vating Creature instrumentalities, and to , bring more prominently before the public mind the fact that the battle is -not man's; but God's ? We praise a.-Garibaldi, extol a Cavouri arid eulogize - a.Ricasoli- ' when we should, magnify the name. of the Lord, who has but to stand aloof fora moment, and the whole machinery of any movement is at a stand-still—in a dead lock. Here I cannot help turning aside, and asking, is Gird ac knowledged and honored. as he should be, by the Northerns, in the present American civil - war, which appears as unreasonable and ab-• surd, on the part of those who made the quar rel, as if the right and left sides;of a man should commence a campaign that must end where it began, not in, the destruction of both, but in the peace-breaker submitting, or being subdued, and gonsenting to act in har mony with the other side, and under the , same head ? Is not too much expected from President, and Secretary, and General, and army, and too little from Goa.? Tice sinews of Fear are worth very little without the G-011 of battles. To return from this digression: Ricasoli, the genuine and tried friend, of re ligious liberty, has resigned, and Ratazzi has succeeded him in the- administration. The policy of the present administration is pro nounced to be 'procrastination. This does not look ; and the hopes of the friends of Italy buil). not so brightly since the change. They should, however, brighten 4 - the thought that ifmay be with Ricasoli, as it was with Cavour,Who, after his resignation was shortly appointed. again. It is highly pro bable that this change of ministry is just one of the empiricism of statesmanship which abound in the history of even the oldest, go vernments. It should never be lost sight of by the true, friends of Italy, that "God often works by means which Apisear to us inade quate while in His band they are .64Pcient. -Therefore, we have i nb fear for the issue of Italian struggle, no matter who the may be, so.long at these Words are in the Bibre, the Lord reignetk. The enemies of the temporal power of the Pope are becoming more numerous every day, and they' hate it with a cruel hatred. SeVenty priests and monks lately signed a protest against it What dutiful conduct—the children literally -rising up against the-father ! - There is - every reason to believe, Pio Norio' Could get his brigands to serve these seventy traitors, ,as Jehu served the sons of Ahab,, he would make old St. Peter's ring with a 'ire /hum, as the reigning Pontiff did, when' he heard of the bloody scenes of St. Bartholomew's day . . There was a frightfutexplosion in the Freneh Senate some weeks ago, occasioned by a speech of Prince Napoleonani the temporal power of the Pope. The Prince boldly de clared that the Roman- question should be settled without delay ; and insisted on with drawing,the. Trench„tramps from,. Voine im— mediately, and, leaving -the Italians to do their own business. He produced documents at least two hundred years old, to prove that the temporal power of the Popes has been deplorable. He, however, would guarantee. the financial and spiritual independence of his Holiness. The speech produced - a per fect hurricane of angry confusion in the Se nate-house, and called forth, some highly seasoned replies, in defence of the assailed and asperied dogma which is to the Bishop otßome what a wife is said to be to her hue ..band—his better half.. Protestantisin has increased amazingly in France during the last half century—in creased extensively—in breadth and numbers —and intensively in vigor and power. In a recent article from the pen of Dr. F. IVlonod, it is shown that in 1807 ,there were but three pastors of the Reformed Church in Paris, and bnt two places of worship; in each of which there was but one sermon every Lord's day. What is the 'state of Matters 'there now ? There are forty-eight pastors of different de nominations, thirty-one" places of worship, and eighty-three' sermons weekly, with about fifty prayer meetings • and thirty Sabbath schools. As %to , the whole of France;=ln 1807-there were five hundred and fifty-one :pastors in the Reformed Church, and four hundred and. eighty' in the Lutheran.' These were located in many parts that are not now French territory, 'so that in the calculation we may not repkon on more than four hun dred and fifty pastors in all, of these two de nominations, settled in France proper. In 1861 the numbers were—of the Reformed. Church, six hundred and fiftY-three pastors ; of the' Lutheran, four hundred and five. In 1818 they had one Protestant religious jour nal ; now they have twenty-one, such, not in cluding those which come from other coun tries. At the thought of these numbers, which are so many vouchers for substantial progress, we may exclaim, What hath God wrought? Austria, hussia, 'Greece; tarkeY,l-o landand- Hungary are said to be 'in: en unsettled state, as if their foundationa were shaking. Anstria has, at last; granted religious liberty in her borders, and proclaimed that creed shall not be a qualification or disqualification, for office:' Wehave a saying in :Ulster, 'which is applied ,to a miser who may have unac countably given a donation. to a friend in need, or to a religions object, that he has not Zang to Zive. Withont exposing myself to the charge of being superstitious, I think -I may say, this last deed Hof Austria is - an un failing premonition of the death of her hoary tyranny at no distant day. My heart's desire andprayer is, that it may be eo. The state of religion in Sweden is greatly im proved. The fruit of the awakening is abid ing. The ministry is becoming more ell cient, and discipline is restored—the Sali bith is better obseried, and new Tract So cieties have been fou.nd. The "Ice Palace," as the State Church has been called, is be ginning to look like a warm and comfortable house,. in which. living lawn_.enjoy them: selves, while they worship God in Spirit and in truth. It had been spoken" of at the last meeting of the Evangelical Alliance, in Geneva", that a monument should be erected to Calviw in 1864—=the three hundredth' Tear after his death. An earnest appeal comes from the living historian of the Reformation, for world wide support in carrying out the, suggestion. It is a noble object, and one which should be generously subscribed to by all who love with all their heart the glorious 'doctrines Calvin held and taught. D'Aubigne, and those who act with him in geneva,.propose to build " a hall for public meetings, and for PHILADELPHIA, TAU the preaching ,of the Gospel to the lower orders. This is a much more sensible styla of monument thin a statue of the great -Re former, or anything of that kind, and one to which the Christian public will more liberally subscribe. ". TilE UNITED xm.GDom. . The meeting of Parliament, this year, has been characterized by the introduction of several very important bills, or motions rela tive to important bills. The' Revised Code of Education for-England will most probably pass both Houses, and it is predicted by its Supporters that it will confer great benefits upon the'youth of England. A new system of National Education for Scotland is to be proposed by the Lord Advocate on an early day. The voluntaries are mustering Tor, a Church. Rates' campaign ; and a Mi. Whalley has risen up to take the place of the 'indefati gable Spooner on the Maynooth Grant, While Sir Hugh Cairns has brought 'in anew bill' on Marriages in Ireland, which, if it become a law, will prevent Romish priests from cele brating clandestine marriages, and remove certain grievances ,that, - at present, press on several of the smaller Protestant com munions. Some of the Irish Roman Ca tholic members took exception to a portion of the Queen's Speech, which referred to the general prosperity of her Majesty's` subjects, The said Irish orators rung the changes on the (fabricated) Irish famine I wrote of in a former letter. Sir Robert Peel dashed to atoms-the atrocious misrepresentations of `the objectors to the Queen's Speech. In his ad dress he described a late repeal meeting in bublin as composed of " manikin traitors who were determined to rival, the cabbage garden heroes of ,1848." A member of the House, the O'bonoghue who occupied the chair at that meeting,' felt insulted by this language r and sent Sir Robert a challenge to a duel, a short rand easy method` of - - settling Aisputes, happily almost unknown.noW.- For, this breach of the rules ,o the House„ the' would-be-duelist _clumsily,aporogized, roher, t4n take .free lodging& in the Tower .for Like the Gunpowder plot this Pauline , plot was. blown up before it did anyharm. Guy Fawkes was taken with the match in: his hand, and hence the rage of the disappointed puppet who danced a&-tbe crafty priests pull ed the String. - Oelierns has got few sops of late, and yet he growls .not more loudly than *hen they came , ciery day. The following statistics concerning the Free .Church of. Scotland may_not be uninteresting ;to your.readers. She has 800,places,of wor- ship, 565 manses, and 620-schools. Besides these she hag places of Worship, manses and schools erected by private individuals, at a cost of X 50,000- She has 3 colleges, and an Assembly hall. The total cost'of her huild ingB is estimated at X 1,422,364. Her yearly income is X 264,000, of which £38,000 go to Verily 'the Lord has prospered' missions. her way. it j~l bnilding for the Stirling Tract. Enterprise, at an outlay of £5OOO. It is, fourteen years since he publishe.d-..-first,--tract on -" The Sabbath," and now the thirty-third million oftracts; on various subjects,,ls issuing from the press. At present, the Baitisklifessenger has a circulation of 100,000 copies monthly. None should deiplie the day= of Milan things," who. knows anything_of the origin and, deVelOpMellt Of the Stisling•Tract Enter prise. _ _ - Gospel work goes on in London, without any relaxation, and results reported are most cheering—particularly this which ap plies to many Christians in both this country and Scotland—" no 'Dian has a right to be -idle." 0, that all believers felt this more, and actedunder it more ! Then the power of God's fellow workers on earth would. be in creased- to an indefinite • extent. Reader, what art thou doing for thy fellowmen ?. Ad vise and, see what answer thou art - prepared to give, in presence of the Lord. If uncon verted, thou art doing nothing for Him. - To continue where and as thou art, is to work thy way to hell. Turn, turn, and serve the Lord with all'thy heart, and so thou shaltbe happy here and hereafter. • The recent intelligence from_America con cerning the important victory gained by the North, was " long looked for come at last," and it made many hearts rejoice: Surely the South has been fatally wounded by this blow, and, cannot hold out much longer, except it be like the Hydra, HercUles'slew with his clUb —gain two heads for every one cut off. Many• Christians in these, lands are, crying unto. God night_ and day to bring the heart rending war to an end speedily, and to-es tablish a sweet and permanent peace in which all anirnosities shall be forgotten, all wrongs forgiven, and all breaches heale4se that - the United States shall rise to the dignity and duty of their position, as great Christian. nation, in the evangelization of the world now lying in, wickedness..' DISCEDE, )1108ikTOR. Tun excavations at the buried _citiek of Pompeii,, Herculaneum, Tozzerol and Capua are going,on with renewed vigor, under the stimulus - of an appropriation of money feit the purpose from theitalian Govetnment.Alere tofore Naples hid the,work under its exclu sive care and control, •At Pompeii new fres coes have been discovered, and there is an 'inscription on the Wall of what was probably a workshop of some kind, as follows s "Otiosis Mc locus non est. Discede, Ilforator." This May: be , translated , " This place is noS for 'the lazy. Loafer depart." This inscription is as good-for industrial- establishments, of mo dern times, as it was for , those of ancient Pompeii. Its discovery is interesting from the fact that it shows that human nature was the kame eighteen centuries ago in Italy, as it is now in America ; that there were lazy folks and loafers - who would intrude into workshops and waste the time or divert the attention of the workmeni- and that it became necessary to put up inscriptions, giving a:ge neral warning to all such to depart.—Eve. Pardon is God's familY blessing and the peculiar mercy of his choicest darling ; he hands out other things to wicked men, but he deals out this only to his children. Everyconversion of a'great sinner is a new copy of God's love; it is a repeated procla mation of the transcendency of his grace. THOUGHTS are the words of the wind. (comuuma ANnorapp%llENEFlTtir OF OUR NA TIONAL TRTAO: WE do well to nerve our t'o r rtitude for the endurance of our afilictions i lby reflecting on the happy results of them..ti...Vcotnpensation that shall correspond with site magnitude of our present domestic and p*blic trials, must be great indeed. I need not, attempt tulle - pia them. I will only endesivor to reconcile us to them by glancing at slime of the bene fits which _we may hopeful* anticipate as their sanctified effects. 1. A revived and lasting - recognition of the Divine control over our d;stiny. .In ohr exaltation we were, ai a tation, forgetting God, and ignoring his goverinnent of hulnan affairs. We were idolizing our proud, tower ing - Union, and failing to :give :glory- to God, ,the once acknowledged. ant* of our distin znished--blessings. We wertOlitrishing an almost atheistical indely.., s - ' , ~ We evidently needed 'jug,. `such an- inter ruption to our deterkirating bus we have experienced, to bring-us rto-our moral senses. We had to bodriven to an extremity of per plexity and distress, where God could have a fit opportunity of reasserting ;his supre macy to advantage. , 1 ) , Now we trust that the &pendetice which our rulers and representativiii have 'been Con strained to publicly and . _ solemnly acknow ledge, will continue to MN felt and humbly confessed, to the honor of otO justly offended yet merciful Sovereign. - , .., -.- This change a christianna t tion must realize td be an incalculable be:nefif. 2. We shall undoabiedlY have a better i, appreoiation of our civil goVilirnment and pay more faithful attention to i administration in consequence of this ten' e` struggle - We`had so long enjoyed thout Interrup tion and without much etWe, our precious l ill _birthright, that . w.-e li :li zed its value. .Threatened destrned . ~,,,npneseary—to awaken sS4S9. 9f its w4 l l, . - *to make the people &soaves what they k eso frequently i expressed of late, that o urs s tic best gcv ' erninent on earth. '.' _ '?; :We shall now prize ourtitutions more lighly, as we shall be all ed to expend so tic inh 'treasure and- . billodifo their.preserva tion. A great national dobgto be borne and liquidated by the Citizens, may give a very hbalthy exercise. lt Anan.Prove to be the burden of wings with. xhick i to rise. ;had not. befqre; a snfficient, personal pecuniary interest ;in -politipal concerns to induce due attention to thenit. Our govern- Ment seemed , alinOst Self-sustaining—a kind of automaton, which" requiretinct our special 1 • contributions and supervision to sepport and regulate its movements, aii i .d,ive`fiact become extremelyeareless about.;thetihonesty4ndin tegrity of_ the'men whd, went_ entrusted. with its -administration. - By< isdering ;corrupt office-seekers to handle t affairs of state , welia44teler.t ge - cf-retifit - Ambitious, designing men, Wilk were aiming only at selfaggrandizement, hail been allow : . ed to hold responsibleiand lucrative offices without the fear of being' called to a' strict account:for their delinquencies and fronds: .Now we shall <feel:the, impulsed very strong motives for.leolting; after the character of - our Tublic,.servants.l feet the importance of vigikkee to,, save the common wealth from destruction, and. to save . Unne cessary expenses. When our revenue was deriVed from a tariff on importeik goods, and from the sale of Immense public lands, we scarcely felt the burden 'of sustaining the national government, and we were little con cerned about the , dishonesty,prodigality, or embezzlements of which - public functionaries might be guilty. An overflowing treasury and an indifferent people really tempted unprincipled men to do what they Otherwise would be restrained from doing. Now,, we umrehond, good men w 0 repent of - their neW6V-Fascitizens of a republic—they will see le if that, reliable can didates be elevated to' office; and with un wonted fervency will they - pray for our rulers. 3. The habits and hatnness of the people maybe much improved by the burdens which this'occasion will require them to bear. In dustry-and economy, temperance,, health and virtue may be yromoted by the demands of the times. Injurious Itixuries, inviting vice and producing dissipation and . effeminacy, will not be so much indulged in when they are heavily taxed. A little return to fruga lity will be a wholesome Under. these circumstances we shall be more likely to look after those sources of public expense which, in our prosperity,_iwe_ too .much disregarded. Particularly shall: er feel the importance of AliatiTiglitc„nui4nee of retailing intoxicating liquors as a beverage. The tax:for support ing paupers and criminals proditeed by the pernicious rum-traffic,,..has been -borne Without 'much coinplaintXecause it has been difficult to induce the-peoPlebY theiMcuniary argu nzent; to procure and'execute hzprohibitory law. But now, wheivanother enormous tax is imposed on the:community, to defray the expenses, z of the mar, file inconsiderate may be brought to listen; with „favor, to the elk peals of temperande advocates. ' • -The , people will hardly be satisfied with:- the fact that the , rum and , rum-vender, by paying . into the pubhe treasury twenty dol lars, shall have license to subject the public ton, tax of twenty 'hi/Jared "dollars: If the wants of the-times:ilia close - up bar-rood:is, and seal the fountains of corruption and' de* of infamy -in our we`may be. thankf4. for a large impressine-publie debt. 4. If the evil read' slivery which poisons the moral sentiments,,and Corrupts the hearts and habits of our Southern fellow citizens- 7 , makes them domineering, and disqualifies them for.republican insiitutions—if this root shall be eradicated by= our present struggle, we shall beCome a , homogeneous happy peo ple, exalted 4 by 4 riglite'ousness. .To receive such a benefit, we May well afford- to endure great trials, and we 'gladly anticipate such a result, for 'we think that-the ; indications .of Providence point it out to our .view., Finally ; Firally, the benefit of our struggles to our posterity, and to the oppressed nations of the earth, may reconcile us to our ,endurance. This trial will preclude any subsequent attempt at rebellion It will work for'the cure of nullification and secession. The pro . - blem of onr''permaneni eiistence as a free nation will be solved; and its influence on the liberties 'of mankind will be most salutary. Our republic Will prove itself be, to not a floating, bursting bubble on the waves of the ,Y APRIL. 3, 1862. political ocean, but a rock against which the tuthUltuous billows of popular commotion, -which shake and shatter the thrones of Eu rope, may dash _in vain. Calling on the Lord in the day of trouble, we shall be deli vered, and then we shall glorify him. The Christian pat:Hot, *ho has trembled to seethe, ark Of our liberties borne down, into the rushing waters of Jordan, shall sing the songs of triumph as he shall see it emerging with tokens of divine preservation. If we serve . Christ, we shall' never perish. N. E. - HENRY HARTYN'S INFLUENCE IN PERSIA. " He being dead yet apeaketh.'' The News'ef the. Churekes for March, con tains the following remarkably instructive in cident related by Mr. Batley, of the (English) Church Mission y - Society," who died recently deeply 7 lamented at Ihnritzur -in the Pun, appeared' Originally !in the Asiatic zTournal .The •writer had been spending ar few.weeks at .Shiraz in Persia. Ile says : " Having -received an invitation to dine, or rather sup, with a Persian party in the city, I went and found a number of guests assembled. The conversation was varied, grave and , gay ; chiefly of the latter corn plexima. Poetry was often the subject, some times Thilosophy, and sometimes politics, prevailed. AniOng the topics dis Cussed re ligibn was one. There are so many sects in Persia, especially if we include the free thinking -classes, that the questions which grow out of such a discussion constitute no trifling resource for - conversation. I was cal led upon, though with perfect good breeding and .politeness, to give all account ef, the tenets of my faith; and I confess mysellhome . times embarrassed by the pointed queries of , my companions. Among tne guests was a _ person,, who . took but little part in the conver sation, and who appeared to be intimate with - none the master of the house. He vas a -Man below the middle. age, 'of a serious countenance and mild depOrtment ; 'they cal led him Mahorned Raheem. I - thought that he frequently observed me with great aften waitched every word I uttered—es pecially When . the subject - Of religion was dis cussing. Once, when I expressed myself with some levity, this individual fixed his eyes upon me with such" a peculiar expres sion of surprise, regret, and Teproof, that I was struck to the very soul, and felt a strange mysterious: wonder. who this person;could, be. I asked privately one of tit; party, who told' me that he had been educated for "a, mollah,.but had never officiated ; and', that he a was man nin of considerable learg, and 'Much respect:4 ed : but lived retired, and seldom visited even fkie Meat intimate frienda. My infor mant-added; that his only inducement to join the party had been the expectation of meet, ing an Eriglishmati, , a's he Was much attach ed to the English natiob . and had studied oar - language` and, learning; "Thiglnformi , ' tion increased my curiosity; which I deter mined to seek an opportindty of gratifying, by conversing with the object of it. A few days afterviards I called upon Mahomed Ra heem, and' found huin reading a volume ef Cowper's poemi. This circumstance led to an immediate discussion of • Englishipoetry; and English literature in general. "I ; was per fectly astonished at the clear and accurate conception which he had formed upon these subjects, and the - precision Niith which he ex pressed himself in English, We discoursed on these and congenial topics for nearly two hours, till at length I ventured to sound his opinions on the subject of - religion. , " You are a raollaii, I am informed. said he; was educated at a Madrussa (col lege), but I have never felt an inclination to he one of the priesthciod.' The exposition of your religious volume,' I rejoined, ' de r " mands a 1) ertty close application to study, be fore a person can, be qualified to teach the doctrines of the K:oran. I understand. must theroughly - examine and diaest volumes of comments, which ascertain the sense - of the' text and the application of its injunc tions. This is a laborious preparation if a man be disposed conscientiously to fulfil his important functions.' As -he made no. re mark, I continued, Our Scriptures are their own expositors. We are solicitous only that they should be read : and although some par ticular passages are not without difficulties, arising from the inherent obscurity of lan guage, the faults of translations, or the error of copyiSfS, yet it is &lir. boast that the au thority - of the Holy Scriptures is confirmed by the perspicuity -and simplieity of their style; as well as precepts.' . "I was surprised that:he Made no reply to these observations. ,At ,the hazard of being deemed importunate, T. proceeded to panegy rize the leading principles ,of Christianity, more particularly in respect of their, moral and practical, character; and happened a 7 mong othei%refiections to suggest, that, as no other concern was of so much importance to the htunan 'race as religion, and as only one faith can, be right, the -subject admitted not of being regarded as indifferent i though too many .did so regard it. Do not you esteem it. so ?' he asked. Certainly not,' I replied, Then your indifference at the table of our friend Meerza Reeza, when. the topic of reli gion. was wider consideration, was merely as sumed, out of complaisance to Mussulmans, I presume ?' " remembered the occasion to Which he allided, and recognised in his countenance thessanie expression, compounded half of pity, half Of surprise, which it then. 'exhibited. owned that I had acted inconsistently, per. haps-incautiously, and imprudently: but I made the best defence I could ; and disavow ed, in tho most solemn:manner, any preme ditated design to contemn the religion Which I profess. "'I am heartily glad I was deceived,' he said ; for sincerity in religion is our pia mount duty. What we are, we should never be ashamed of appearing to be.' ' Are you a sincere Miissulthan, then ?' I boldly asked. An internal struggle_ seemed, for an instant, to agitate his visage : at length he answered mildly, 'No I" You are not a sceptic or a free-thinker ?' 'No ' indeed, I onnot 'What are you. then ?be yen sincere. Are you a Christian? 'Tam, he replied. " I should vainly endeavour to deacribe the astonishment which seized me at this de claration. r surveyed 'Mahon:Cad Raheein at first, with a look which, judging from itare fleotion from his benign countenance must lia,ve.betokened suspicion or • even contempt. The consideration that he could have no mo tive to deceive me in this disclosure, which was of infinitely grefter seriousness to him self than to me, speedly restored me to recol lection, and banished every sentiment but joy. I could not refrain from pressing silent ly his hand to my heart. " He was not unmoved at this transport, but he betrayed no unmanly emotions. He told me that T had possessed myself of a se cret, which, in spite of his opinion that it was the. duty of every one to wear his reli gion openly, he had hitherto concealed, ex cept froth a few who participatea in his own sentiments.' - " And whence came this happy change ?' I asked. ' I will tell you,' he replied. 'ln, -the year 1223 (of the Ilejira) there came to this city an Englishman, who taught the re ligion of Christ with a. boldness unparalleled in Persia, in the midst of much scorn and ill treatment from our mollahs, as well as the rabble. He was a beardless youth, and evi dently enfc.ehled by disease. He dwelta mangst nefor more than a'year. was then a decided enemy of infidels, as the Christians are.termed -by the followers of Mahammed; and I visited this teacher of the despised sect, with the declared object of treating him with scorn, and exposing his doctrines with con tempt. Although I persevered for some time in this behaviour toward him I found that every interview not only increased my res pect for the individual, but diminished my confidentc in the faith in which I 'As edu cated. His extreme forbearance towards the violence of his opponents, the calm and yet convincing manner in which he exposed the fallacies and sophistries by which he was as sailed—for he spoke Persian excellently-- gradually inclined me to listen to his argu ments, to inquire dispassionately into the subject of them, and finally to read a tract which be had written in reply to a defence Of Islamism by our chief mollahs. ~Need I detain you longer ? the result of my examin ation was a conviction that the ,young dis putant was right. Shame or rather fear, withheli me from avowing this opinion. I ever avoided the society of the Christian teacher, - though - he remained in the city so long. Just. before he quitted= Shiraz I could not refrain from.paying him a farewell visit. Our conversation—the memory of it will never fade from the tablet of my mind—seal ed my conversion. He gave me a book—it h - as' ever been my constant companien, the study of it has formed my most delightful occupation—its contents have often consoled me.' . . .., . " Upon this, he put into my hands a copy of the New Testament in Persian, _on one of the blank leaves was nrritten.: 'There is . joy in heaven over on one-sinner that repenteth.— TIMMY MARTYN.' " - _ (COMIIINICATED.) LE NOIR FAINEANT, OR THE ‘BLACK •SLUGGARD. "At once, this knight seemed to throw aside his apathy, when. he discovered the leader of his party so hard bested ; for,' setting spurs to his horse, which was quite fresh, he came to his assistance like a thun der-holt, exclaiming in a voice like a trumpet call, !Desdichado, to the rescue' !ll—lveamon. WHEN the news :of what transpired some weeks ago. at Fortress Monroe, reached the nation, an indescribable emotion thrilled ev ery heart. The sight of that iron-clad mon ster creeping out of her lair at Norfolk, and eating up our mighty ships of war, as if they had been so much bread, filled us with _ap prehensions; but the providential arrival of another iron combatant, which entered into the conflict, standing. up _like some giant boxer against the beast and'her. cubs, and after giving and receiving blows, that weuld have annihilated ordinary. fighters,:. beating them off and remaining master of her posi tionthis intervention relieved our fears and raised up our hopes of safety, as the Monitor advised the foe, that to them, was,not confined the prowess arising from ingenuity, andUliort • Nee& 'this - dolt an adventure as this com bat I .On either side was, put• forth - the strength of ten thousand mailed-warriors of the olden time. Iron balls of.two hundred pounds, weight, hurled with proportionate force, had no apparent effect against their scaly sides ; the most effectual shot from, our wooden ships was like pelting the, iron sheath ing of the eiteiny with pebbles, and when the two monsters came close enough to touch each other, and gave forth their Most enor mous efforts, on one side, at least, no' serious damage was inflicted The living leviathan of Job (Chap. xli.) seems anticipative of this day,: " Canst thou fill 'his skin with barbed iron, or his head with fish spears.? Who can open,the doors of his face ? His teeth are terrible. His scales are shut up together, as with a close - seal, - that no air can come be tween them. They stick together, that-they cannot be sundered. His breath kindles coals, and a flame goeth out of his mouth. The sword of him that layeth at him cannot hold; the spear, the dart, nor the habergeon. He esteemeth iron as straw, and brass as rotten wood. The arrow cannot make him flee ; sling-stones are turned into stubble. He laugheth at, the shaking of a spear, He is King over all the children of pride." Before our help arrived, with what sorrow did we contemplate our noble vessels over whelmed and our-brave sailers killed, drown ed or captured ? One, after being placed in the most desperate crippled condition, was obliged to, surrender the other, showing the true Anterican mettle,: told the enemy they would never give up, but go to the bottom first;'who kept firing, and went down hurrah ing for the Union, - with flags flying. And there, over the bloody waters of the James river, although the " Stars and Stripes" were submerged, the pennant „may still be seen floating from the topmast. The Monitor was evidently, under r God, our deliverance from a greater calamity, and from her unexpected appearance to all—par ticularly to the eneiny,—as well as her prow ess, we have given her the name of "Le Noir _Faineant, or the Black Sluggard.' Si oE Mary kept and pondered the short sayings of' our Saviour in het heart, corn tnitting and fitting them, as it were; in her commonzplice book ; why should not we also preserve 'the whispers of that Spirit, who re ceives from the same mouth and hand what he both speaks and shows to us? • Free grace is God's darling, which, he loves to advance; and it• is never more ad vanced than when it beautifies the most rais shaped souls. GENESEE. EVANGELIST.---Whole No. 828 ORIGIN OF. SPECIES. I=l The domestic animals, with their nume rous breeds, are constanty adduced as evi dence of the changes which animals may un dergo, and as furnishing hints respecting the way in which the diversity now observed among animals nas - already been produced. It is my conviction that such inferences are in no way sustained by the facts of the case, and that, however striking the differences may be between the breeds of our domesti cated animals, as compared with the wild species of same genus, they are of a pe culiar character, entirely distinct from those that prevail among the latter, and are alto gether incident to the circumstances under which they occur. By this I do not mean the natural action of physical conditions, but the more or less intelligent direction of the circumstances under which they live. The inference drawn from the varieties in troduced among animals in a state of domes tication; with reference to the origin of *- cies, is usually this : that what -the farmer does on a small scale, nature may do on a large one. It is true hat man has been able to produce certain changes in the animals under his care, and that these changes have resulted in a variety of breeds. But in do ing this he has, in my estimation, in no way altered the character of the species, but has only developed its pliability to the will of man, that is, to a power similar inits nature and mode of action to that power to which animals owe their very existence. - The in fluence of man upon animals is, in other words, the action of mind upon them ; and yet the ordinary mode of arguing upon this subject is, that because the intelligence of man has been able to produce certain varie ties in domesticated animals, therefore phy sical causes have produced all the diversities among- - Wild ones. Surely the sounder logic would be to infer that, because our finite in telligence can cause the original pattern to vary by some slight shades of difference, therefore an infinite_ intelligence must have established all the boundless diversity of which our boasted varieties are but the faint est echo. It is the most intelligent farmer that has the greatest success in improving his breeds; and if the animals so fostered ate left 'to themselves Without that intelli gent care, they return to their normal condi tion. So with plants : the shrewd, observing, thoughtful gardener will obtain many varie ties from his flowers ; but those varieties will fade out, if left to themselves. There is, as it were a certain degree of pliability anedo cility in the organizdtion both of animals and plants, which may be developed by the fos tering care of man, and within which he can exercise a certain influence ; but the varia tions which he thus produces are of a pecu liar kind, and. alo not correspond to the dif ferences of the wild species. * * * * * In fact; all-the variability among domesti eafed.species is due to the fosteriugea.re, or, in its more extravagaiiffinika, tntheihncies of man, and it his never been obserlved in the• wild species, where,-on the contrary, everything Shows the closest adherence to the distinct, well-defined, and invariable limits of the species. It surely does not that because tlae_Chinese can, under ab normal conditions, produce .a variety of fan tastic shapes in the Golden Carp, therefore water, or the physical conditions established in the water, can create a fish, any more than it follows that, because they can dwarf a tree, or alter its aspect by stunting its growth in one direction and forcing it in an other, therefore the earth, or the physical conditions connected with their growth, can create a pine, an oak, a birch, or a maple. I confess that in,.all the arguments derived from the phenomena of domestication, to prove that all animals owe their origin and diversity to the natural action of the condi tions under which they live, the conclusion does not seem tome to follow logically from the premises. And the fact, that domesti cated animals of all races of men, equally with the white race, vary among themselves in the same way and differ in the same way from the wild species, makes it still more evident that domesticated varieties do not explain the origin of species, except,. as I have said, by showing that the intelligent will of man can produce effects which physi cal causes have never been known to pro duce, and that we must therefore look to some cause outside of nature, corresponding in kind, though so different in degree, to the intelligence of man, for all. the phenomena connected .with- the existence, of animals in their wild state. So far from attributing these original differences among animals to natural influences, it would seem that, while a certain freedom of development is left, Ifithin which man can exercise his intelli gence and his ingenuity, not even this super ficial influence is allowed to physical condi tions unaided by some guiding power, since in their normal state the wild species remain, so far as we have been able to discover, en tirely unchanged; maintained, it is true, in their integrity by the circumstances that - were established for their support by the power that created both, but never altered by them. Nature holds inviolable the stamp that God has set upon his creatures; and if man is able to influence their organization in some slight degree, it is because the Creator has given to his relations with the animals he has intended for his companions the same plasticity which he has allowed to every other side of his life, in virtue of Which he may in some sort mould and shape it to his own ends, and be held responsible also for its results. - The common sense of a civilized commu nity has already pointed out the true dis tinction in applying another.word to the dis crimination of the different kinds of domes ticated animals. They are. called breeds, and breeds arninig animals , are the work of man; species were created by God. - —Agaesiz in the Atlantic M 664. A STONE, if thrown upwards a thousand times, will fall backward, hecauee it is a forced motion ; 'but if the nature of this stone were changed into that of fire, it would mount as naturally upwa,rd as before it sunk down ward. You may force some thoughts to ward heaven sometimes, but they will not be natural till nature be changed. • Creating power 'drew the world out of nOth ing, but converting power frames the new creature out of something worse than noth ing. • •
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