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with him, he was taken with the dropsy, of which disease he died. As may be supposed, I found him very ignorant of spiritual things, yet so teachable, and anxious for instruction, that he soon acquired a good amount of Bible knowledge. The following little incident will illustrate the teachableness of his mind, and show how Sunday school scholars can make themselves useful. "When I was at work," said he, a little girl used to come into the yard to watch me. One day she brought a book, and asked me if I would let her read it to me. It was all about Jesus Christ; and after that time she often came and read little books to me. One day she told me that she should like me to go to heaven, for the Bible said that Jesus loved all good people, and would make them angels when they died." These visits from this little Sunday school girl were the means of awakening serious thoughts in Robert's mind; and he said I often wish that I could love Jesus, and knew how to pray to him. I did not like to hear the men curse and swear, and when they were out of the stable, I used to hide myself under the straw and try to pray, though I never knew what to say." The touching simplicity of these narratives deeply affected me, though I did not learn them from him until he had been ill for some time.

As his knowledge of the word of God increased, sin began to appear a hateful thing, and his sins pressed heavily upon his conscience. Often did the penitential tear roll down his pallid cheeks, as he spoke of them, and expressed his fears that Jesus would not love him.

Seeing his sincerity and sorrow, I directed him to the precious promises of the gospel. Ultimately light broke in upon his mind; the Spirit

enabled him to trust alone in Christ and he obtained peace through believing. Never shall I forget the thrilling scene, when one morning as I entered his room, he exclaimed, "Oh, Mr. W- my friend, I am glad you are come; I wanted to see you to tell you how happy I feel. Jesus loves me now, and I shall go to heaven."

I was not surprised to hear this, for I knew that God would not reject one so earnest and sincere as he was, but I felt oppressed with emotions of grateful joy; and while with tears of joy he simply asked, "Do you think, sir, I should feel in this way if Jesus did not love me?" I wept, and 1ejoiced with him. In this state of mind he continued for a short time, amidst great bodily sufferings.

His

legs were swelled to four times their natural thickness; at last mortification took place, and he fell asleep in Jesus. A few hours before he died I was with him; he pressed my hand, and said "Thank you, thank you for your kindness; you have led me to know Jesus, and I shall soon be with him." He is now in the great multitude who have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb.

I never could find out the little scholar who first led him to think of Jesus; but surely Sabbath school teachers will be encouraged to labour on, and if any young persons read this simple narrative, let me entreat them to follow this little child's example. S. WILLIAMS.

Paddington.

[Mr. Williams, the writer of the above, was formerly a local preacher with us in the Longton Circuit. He is now employed as a City Missionary, daily going about doing good. May God favour him with great success.-ED.]

CONSIDERING the extent, population, and civilization of China, it can hardly be supposed that so import ant a region was entirely neglected by the first propagators of the Gospel; and Assemannus assures us,

that Thomas the Apostle, having done much for the establishment of Christianity in India, passed over to a country on the east called China, where he preached the Gospel, and founded a church in the

city of Cambalu (Peking); after which he returned to Malabar. In the Chaldee ritual, there is an office for the celebration of St. Thomas, which says, that "by him the Persians, Hindoos, and Chinese were converted to the Christian faith." In confirmation of this tradition, it may be observed, that according to Chinese history a very early intercourse subsisted between China and the west. Arabia and Judea are called in the native books, Ta-tsin; and Pan-chaon, a Chinese general, who flourished before the close of the first century, is said to have extended his conquests as far as Ta-tsin. It is also related that, in that early age, a veneration for the cross existed in China; while the famous Kwan Yun-chang, has left in writing an account of the birth, death, resurrection, and ascension of a Saviour, which must have been derived from some indistinct traditions of gospel history. In the time of Han Hwan-te, A.D. 147, "the people of India, Arabia, and other parts, came by the southern sea to China with tribute; and from this time trade was carried on with foreigners at Canton." Chinese history further mentions, that about the same period an extraordinary person arrived in China, who taught a doctrine purely spiritual, and drew the admiration of all by the virtues he possessed and the miracles he wrought. The next intimation of the introduction cf Christianity into China, is given us in the famous marble tablet, which was dug up at Se-gnaw-foo in the year 1625. This tablet is ten feet long, and five broad, surmounted by a cross, resembling that used by the Syrians in Malabar. It contains an inscription in the Chinese and Syriac languages, describing the principal doctrines of the Gospel, and the history of its introduction into China. The Chinese inscription is entitled, "A Tablet recording the Introduction of the Religion of the Ta-tsin country into China." It commences with stating the existence of the living and true God; the creation of the world; the fall of man; and the

mission of Jesus Christ. The miraculous birth and excellent teaching of the Saviour are briefly described. His ascension is spoken of, the institution of baptism mentioned, and the cross declared to be effectual for the salvation of mankind. The inscription goes on to state, that in the reign of Tang Tea-tsung, A.D. 636, a Christian teacher came from Tatsin to China; where the emperor, after examining his doctrines, published an edict, authorizing the preaching of Christianity among the people. The next emperor continued his patronage; but the Buddhist priests, apprehensive lest the new sect should eclipse and prejudice their own, endeavoured to stop its course. A persecution followed, which at first diminished the number of the faithful; but after a time, two able advocates were raised up, who brought the new religion again into notice. The Emperor Suh-tsung founded several Christian churches; and in order to perpetuate the memory of his good deeds, the tablet in question was erected, A.D. 782. Some have affected to doubt the authenticity of this inscription, imagining it to be a mere trick of the Jesuits, to get the Chinese to credit the Christian religion. That this was not the case, we may infer from the fact, that the Chinese were the first to discover the stone, and that neither they nor the Jesuits understood the Syrian part of the inscription, till it was translated into Malabar. Besides, were it a pious fraud, the Jesuits would have been more likely to ascribe the introduction of Christianity to the efforts of the Latin than to the Syrian church; and, had they made any pretensions of that kind, the other orders of the Romish clergy would have exposed their hypocrisy. We conclude, therefore, that the inscription is a genuine record of the labours of the Syrian Christians during the seventh and eighth centuries, in China. A facsimile of it may be seen in the library of the Vatican at Rome, and a full translation in Kicherer's "China."-MEDHURST's China. Paddington. S. W.

A question is now pending before the learned world of very great interest to the friends of Africa. The American missionaries have recently made large collections of vocabularies of words of the different languages on the west coast, especially of those spoken between the Bight of Biafra and Benguela, and have discovered that they are all not only related to each other, but by comparing them with vocabularies of the languages of the Cape of Good Hope, Mozambique, and other parts of the eastern coast, they have found, though differing from each other materially as dialects, that they all belong to one general family. The most remarkable coincidence they have met with, is the close affinity between the Mopongwe, spoken by the natives of the Gaboon-river, &c., and the Lowbylee, the language of the aboriginal inhabitants of the island and coast of Zanzibar. The Mopongwe is described by the Ame

rican missionaries, as one of the most perfect languages. It is not so remarkable for copiousness of words as for its great and almost unlimited flexibility. Its expansions, contractions, and inflections, though exceedingly numerous, and having, apparently, special reference to euphony, are all governed by grammatical rules which seem to be well established in the minds of the people, and which enable them to express their ideas with the utmost precision. How a language so soft, so plaintive, so pleasant to the ear, and at the same time so copious and methodical in its inflexions, has originated, or how the people are enabled to retain its multifarious principles so distinctly in their minds (for they possess no written character), as to express themselves with almost unvarying precision and uniformity, remains to be accounted

for.

One of the most familiar examples of the fungal tribe is the common mouldiness which appears on decaying substances. When a minute portion of this delicate substance is placed on the field of the microscope, a curious spectacles presents itself. A vast array of little drumsticks seems paraded before the eye. These are the simply formed heads and filaments of the “mould." Looking at them more closely, they are found to consist of little articulated filaments, placed end to end, surmounted by minute round spherules which contain the spores. The cellule, which encloses these microscopic spores, generally bursts, and the spores are scattered abroad to the winds to seek a suitable place of development. By this means mould extends with the utmost rapidity. The rupture of the cellule and dispersion of the spores, form a most interesting sight on the stage of a good microscope. These germs are exceedingly minute, and

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SO

being very light they float with every passing air. Their number is amazing; it is not to be adequately expressed by figures, or conceived by the ima gination. "The sporules," says Fries, are so numerous, in a single in dividual I have reckoned above 10.000.000; subtle, they are scarcely visible to the naked eye, and often resemble thin smoke; so light, that they are raised into the atmosphere, and are dispersed in so many ways, by the attraction of the sun, insects, winds, electricity, adhesion, &c., that it is difficult to conceive a place from which they can be excluded." For aught we know, then, the vital air we breathe may carry on its wings such messengers of life with every breath; or they may be upborne in myriads on the mimic ocean of a thimble of water. Whether this be so or not, it is truly wonderful to observe the ubiquity of the fungal principle. How often in dismay does the housekeeper carefully open

her long bottled-up fruit, half suspecting the result, and find a forest of fungi pressing up against the cork! In short, no place is secure against their invasion. The larder and the cellar, the drawing room and the kitchen, are free to them. Yes, and the loftiest attic and the deepest well are

all the same to them; they luxuriate upon our dainty food, or they revel upon our damp and dusty papers; or even swim in islands, of the most delicate pale blue, upon the black seas of our inkbottles. Wherever the wild wind penetrates, there they are.

Certain of the disciples are always hearing good preaching. It is difficult to catch them out of temper with what they have heard, after an evangelical sermon from any quarter. The secret is, they are always hungering and thirsting after the truth, and they have not learned the art, so common of late, to be captious, critical, and over-nice, about the mode in which it reaches them. Truth is an angel of such beauty and loveliness, that when she alights at their door, they are so glad to see her, they forget whether she came in a coach-and-four or in some less pretending vehicle. They are in such straits for spiritual food that they will receive it thankfully at any man's hands.

We do not think we wish certain disciples any harm, when we wish they might be seized with a craving appetite for the sincere milk of the Word. It would not hurt them " to pant after it as the hart panteth after the water-brooks," and to long for it as in a dry and thirsty land, where no

water is. Then would they rejoice over crumbs, if they could not get loaves; and very coarse food and humbly served would gladden them.

Some are always in trouble about the preaching they have, because what appetite they are blessed with has respect, not to the repast, but to the dishes on which it is served and the waiters. They crave not the butter, but the "lordly dish." Their longings are not for spiritual food, but for a splendid table and genteel attendance. Hence they have multiplied sorrows over their poor preaching. The raven that feeds these prophets has not the right colour; if he only had white wings, or had a tuft of red feathers on his head, or if he was some other sort of bird, then they would be satisfied; and they are of a good mind to starve, because they cannot be gratified in the thing. They do starve. You can see them pine and languish till they are the poorest kine in Zion. It is their poor preaching," they say, "that kills them."-From an American Journal.

The Christian may recommend religion in all its beauty by his life. Thus his light will shine. There is a power in a holy life which nothing can resist. Men may resist every argument and motive which can be found in the Bible; they may be indifferent to the providences of God; they may silence the clamours of conscience; nothing may disturb them in their way to hell but a godly example. This has been effectual in instances where nothing else was regarded.

In a certain community there was a man, infidel in his sentiments and

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profligate in his practice. He was subtle in disputation, and could much embarrass most that encountered him. But there was one man that would never dispute with him. This was a plain, but a devoted and consistent Christian. His life was a bright focus of vital godliness, and it had more power upon this wicked man than any other sort of artillery that could be brought against him. He was ofter heard to say, that the holy life of this man was the only thing that gave him trouble. He could not withstand the conviction that religion