of the society has been uniformly carried out, and the result of that system is now fully manifest. Two generations of female children at least have passed through these scriptural schools, and are, with very few exceptions, giving satisfactory proofs that the labour which has been bestowed upon them is amply repaid. Other societies, recently formed, are attracting general attention; but not one of them has rendered the work of this society useless. In proportion as the adult population of Ireland examine and think for themselves are they anxious that their children should be scripturally and usefully educated. Although this society has been, as well as others, a pioneer in the way to more enlarged labours, and has broken up, as it were, the fallow ground, it is now almost overlooked. But the female children of Ireland still need, and also wish for education, and endure many hardships rather than be deprived of it. The Romanist priests are increasingly active and persecuting, because they feel their influence is waning; and they probably know that the truth must and will prevail. This society is the only one in Ireland which gives fixed annual grants to its mistresses; a system by which the efficiency and permanence of its schools has been promoted and secured. They are at present 204 in number, which are attended by 9,546 pupils. We cannot conceive it to be possible that such a blessed work as this, rich as it has been and is in spiritual and educational fruits, should be permitted to languish, and perhaps fall to pieces, for lack of liberal countenance on the part of English churchmen and protestants." H. S.

THE BLESSING OF THE SACRAMENT OF THE LORD'S SUPPER".

THE term "spiritual" is one which is frequently employed to conceal the indistinctness of our conceptions concerning religious matters. Among many it has taken entire possession of the whole subject of the Lord's supper, and consequently added much to its obscurity.

That we may, in some measure, remedy this indistinctness, let us here observe that the relation which exists between man as a religious being, and God as the object of religion, is brought about through the medium of that in man's nature which is nearest to the nature of God. Now this is what we term "spirit," in which, as we conceive, lies that capacity of communion with his Creator which, as far as we know, man has alone of all the creatures of this earth.

When, therefore, we speak of spiritual acts, we would be understood to mean those which spring from this relation between God and man in the way of religion; just as by spiritual blessings we intend such influences as God can convey and man can receive through the same mutual relation; for in this communion between two, so From "Some plain Words upon the Lord's Supper;" by G. F. De Teissier, M.A., fellow and tutor of Corpus Christi College, Oxford. London: T. Hatchard, 187, Piccadilly. 1851. Mr. De Teissier writes in an earnest spirit, and there are some important observations in his book; though we nfess we cannot always quite agree with what he asserts.

infinitely unequal, "without all contradiction the less is blessed of the better" (Heb. vii. 7).

Now I think it needs no proof to maintain that it is not only natural for man to expect that God will bless an act of religion done towards him, but even inconsistent with the divine nature as revealed to us to think otherwise. And undoubtedly there is no action of a Christian of a more decidedly religious character than a reception of the Lord's supper, whensoever that act is undertaken and performed in a fit state (if I may so speak) of moral preparation; and consequently there is no action upon which spiritual blessings are more likely to follow. For, first, it is of itself not merely a renewed acknowledgment, on man's part, of the covenant of mercy to which are attached promises of favour, promises which are "yea and amen" for ever; but it is also a remembrancer, before God, of him through whose merits all the blessings of the mercy covenant are derived to us. And, secondly, it is performed always under the most engaging and solemn circumstances, and with all the adjuncts of true religious worship-confession of sin and of utter demerit on our part, praise, thanksgiving, and prayer; all of which God on his part is willing to accept, and therewith to bless with his most satisfying favour: "Whoso offereth me thanks and praise, he honoureth me" (Ps. 1. 23; xxxii. 5); and "them that honour me I will honour" (1 Sam. ii. 30): "Whosoever shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven" (Matt. x. 32): "If ye, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?" (Luke xi. 13).

Observation: It may be here remarked that the duty of receiving the Lord's supper by no means requires the sanction of direct promises. For, even supposing that there are no blessings whatever to be expected from it, we are not the less bound to obey our Lord's injunction, nor could we in any way justify that hardness of heart which would ungratefully refuse compliance with the last request of man's best and greatest Friend,

Do this in remembrance of me." Add to which, his divine nature gives to every positive command of his the highest and most incontrovertible sanction, which must always hold good, unless there be counteracting circumstances of equal authority, and so must last till the object of the institution be superseded.

When the Jews asked of Christ, "What shall we do that we might work the works of God?" Jesus answered and said unto them, "This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent" (John vi. 28). They asked him about works: he answered them about the one work, that all important one, to believe in Jesus Christ. It is through faith that we have that communion with the Saviour which is necessary to eternal life. And this faith is true, when in proportion to a man's advantages it operates upon his whole nature, moral and intellectual, bodily and spiritual. Faith also is the measure of the value of a man's works before God: without it they are worthless. If this be true of all actions generally, it is more particularly true of those actions which have the most immediate reference to God, namely, religious actions, or those in which a

"To the fair of other lands the fate of the Rajpootnee must appear one of appalling hardship. In each stage of life death is ready to claim her, by the poppy at its dawn, by the flames in riper years; while, the safety of the interval depending on the uncertainty of war, at no period is her existence worth a twelvemonth's purchase. The loss of a battle or the capture of a city is a signal to avoid captivity and its horrors, which, to the Rajpootnee, are worse than death"*.

The woman of India has suffered deep and long, but she has suffered in silence, and her sufferings have been, at least in appearance, voluntary with her own hand has she lighted the funeral fires which were to consume her life along with the lifeless body of her husband; and (in some races) with her own hand has she quenched the spark of infant vitality as each girl was born to her. Our earlier settlers in India, intent on commerce and wealth, had little opportunity to notice the wrongs of the women of the country. At a later period they were averse to meddling with the customs of the people, and at home, unless the sufferings of some begum of rank could be worked up into "political capital," little notice was likely to be taken of the women of India. Later still, lord William Bentinck found it no easy matter to fight the battles of the innocent uncomplaining widow, amidst the official apathy or secret opposition of men who should have been the first to assist him.

However, our present affair is not with the wrongs of Indian women in general, but with the peculiar and unnatural crime which, amongst certain classes, consigns the female infants to immediate death.

And first, to take a more extended glance. Infanticide is a world-wide crime. Except the land of our own Saxon forefathers, we can scarce name a country unstained by the blood of its infant children. Men of letters and refinement have equalled the savage and surpassed the brute in this special ferocity. In all continents-in Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, in almost every island from the rocks of Iceland to the reefs of the Pacific, the hand of the parent has been lifted against his child, The usual cause in other countries has been want or luxury, in India either superstition or pride. Before the time of English domination, thousands of hapless children were thrown as votive offerings to the river gods. These sacrifices have been stayed; but still as we write, hundreds of infant females are being hurried out of the world victims to the pride of their parents.

Let us examine the source of this particular pride, which has proved so tragical to the Rajpootnee girls. Like other martial and gallant races, the early Rajpoots were not insensible to the claims of chivalry. Their women were free. Instead of being mewed up, as is now their lot, in the female apartments, all reasonable liberty was granted to them. Some privileges of the ladies indeed remind us of the best days of romance, and carry us away to the western world, to the days of Charlemagne or the crusades. The distressed Rajpootuee damsel, or the forlorn matron

66

in the hour of danger, would send her jewelled bracelet to some preux chevalier," like Bayard of old, "sans peur et sans reproche," who thenceforth would serve his mistress to the death, nor ask but one return, that she should accept and wear the proffered guerdon of his loyalty, a boddice of silk or embroidery. History relates that the emperor Humaioon, son of Baber, was so inspired with romantic devotion on receiving a bracelet thus sent by the princess Kurnavati in her distress, that "forgetting the usual phlegm of his nature he pledged himself at once to her service, vowing to obey her behest, even if the demand were the castle of Rinthumbor". The knight thus chosen was styled "Rakhibund bhai," the bracelet-bound brother; and on such a connection the breath of scandal was never known to pass. But, not only might the daughter of a Rajpoot thus choose her liege knight, she might do more, she had a liberty which our own AngloSaxon damsels, unless of royal rank, have seldom tasted-she might choose her own husband, and might herself inform the happy lover on whom her choice had fallen. On a given day the chiefs assembled, and passing through the gallant line of suitors, the Rajpootnee maiden threw the mala or garland over the favoured swain. These assemblies broke up sometimes in so much heat, that at last it was found impossible with safety to convene them. To this day in the mid Doab, as the sun enters the summer solstice, the village youths while away the glowing nights with the chant of "Ala and Bodun." In these and other such romaunts, we learn how readily the disappointed suitors flew to arms, and, with all their love turned into hate, pursued the accepted rival. So much noble blood was shed on an occasion of this sort in the warfare between Jyechund and Pirthee Raj, that from that day no mala has been thrown. The Rajpoot tribes, convulsed by internal dissensions, and hardened by frequent warfare, forgot their old chivalrous ways. The gentler sex, who had caused the mischief, were the first to suffer, and their liberty was changed into thraldom. When they could no longer woo or be wooed by fair means, they must be won at all events, and the sword became the arbiter of their lot. The stronger of the Rajpoots began to carry off by force of arms or by stratagem the marriageable women of other cognate tribes. This practice gave new life to the old Hindoo superstitions of the inferior position of the father-inlaw. The son-in-law became more than ever the social superior of his father-in-law. If the wife were henceforth a slave, the wife's father need expect but little courtesy or consideration. A Rajpoot of the present day is subject to his sonin-law hand and foot, can refuse him nothing, and without disgrace cannot accept so much as a meal at his hands.

dress to their married sisters.

in-law or brother-in-law" (Elphinstone's India, vol. i. p. 358.)

There is a tradition prevalent in the Doab, that a Chowhan Thakoor, being sorely pressed by his son-in-law, and smarting under the sense of disgrace which his mere position as the father of a married daughter seemed to entail upon him, called together his sons, and bound them by an oath to save his family from future contempt by destroying every female child that might be born to them. Hence, as some say, the origin of female infanticide amongst the Chowhan Rajpoots, men in other respects the noblest of a not ignoble race*. But there have been other and more subtle influences at work. At the very root of the evil stands this principle: the Hindoo disbelieves the purity of the sex: a daughter arrived at puberty must, he thinks, be married or be disgraced. When he seeks a husband for her, it must be in his own caste, but it must also be in a subdivision of that castet, higher if possible, but at all events differing from his own. To intermarry in one's own subdivision is impossible: such a union would be set down as incestuous. Disgrace is attached to marriages with men of inferior relative rank. "The owner of a hyde of land, whether Seesodea, Rhatore, or Chohan, would scorn the hand of a Jareja princess'. What, then, is a Rajpoot father to do with his marriageable daughters? He must, it is clear, seek a husband for them in a rank equal to his own, or in a higher rank; but, if his own subdivision be high-if he be a Chowhan or a Rahtore, he will not easily find such a son-in-law, or if he do find him, will have to pay high in hard coin for blood and rank. And this is why a Rajpoot mourns when a daughter is born to him, and rejoices when he has a son. The one brings disgrace, anxiety, or at the least heavy expense upon his house: the other increases his wealth and his dignity.

So far, then, we have attempted to trace the domestic position of the Rajpoot girls. This position is a false one. So, it may be said, is that of thousands of their sisters in Europe, who suffer from the prevailing scarcity of husbands. But, in the western world, we have no false private code of morals ruling, as in India, that celibacy is a disgrace. Hundreds of our best and most useful persons are unmarried women. The state which Christianity has sanctified, heathenism has more than debased—it has annihilated. There is no such element in Indian society as that which the adult unmarried female so gracefully supplies in Europe. A woman in India must marry or she must cease to be. The conventional rules, then, of the society in which the Rajpoot for some centuries past has found himself, left him but this option, to give up his pride or his daughters.

bondsmen of sin and death, that we should behold the works of him that shall come again, and hear that gospel preached, which is thy power unto salvation, grant us, we beseech thee, thy Holy Spirit, that we may be taught of him the things of Christ in all their fulness. And give us more and more cause to thank thee, O merciful Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that, whereas thou hidest these things from the wise and prudent of this world, thou hast graciously revealed them unto us, thy babes and children in Christ Jesus. Even so, Father, may it seem good in thy sight, for his righteousness' sake, who, with thee and the Holy Spirit, liveth and reigneth, world without end. Amen.

"The light of the gospel is an exhilarating light, a refreshing, clearing, and comfortable light; darkness and sadness-they go together. Now, and that Satan envies us. Light and gladness, the gospel ever brings joy with it. As the wise men, when they saw the star, rejoiced with exceeding great joy', still you shall see, wherever the gospel takes its place, it brings joy with it. They entertain it as Zaccheus did Christ: he received him joyfully.' And the eunuch, when he saw this light, he went his way rejoicing.' The believed, he prayed.' And the city of Sadejected and despairing gaoler too, as soon as he maria, they entertained the gospel,' and there lightened by baptism, and forthwith 'rejoiced.' was great joy in that city.' All these were en"Tis this joy and comfort Satan repines at. He loves to have us rejoice in evil; or, if that will not maligus the light of the gospel. O it is an enbe, gloomy in piety. In all these respects Satan livening light! it recovers us out of the holds of death, and so it despoils him. It is a detecting light, and so it discovers him: it is a directing and comforting light, and so it vexes him. The light, and so it disappoints him: it is a clearing church's comfort is the devil's torment" (bp. Brownrig).

H. S.