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cannot close without commending these precious lambs to the sympathy and prayers of the Christian ladies of Scotland. I am sure that all of you will join us in our joy, and unite in rendering thanksgiving on their account to God. Pray for them, dear sisters; pray that the Shepherd of the sheep may keep them may guard them from the wolf that would tear, and the wild beast out of the woods that would devour the lambs. And pray not for them alone, but for the other precious souls in India who have not yet been won to Christ-for the others that are dying in the darkness of idolatry, and going away to a forlorn eternity.

"Be up and be doing, sisters in Scotland; for, oh! there is much to be done for Jesus, and no time to lose! Be yet more liberal in giving, more abundant in praying, for the poor daughters of Hindustan. Shall souls be in danger, and we indifferent? Shall souls be perishing in millions round us, and we, who profess the great love of Jesus, stand coldly by and fold our hands as we see them die!

"God forbid ! Oh! how shall we meet them when they rise to upbraid us at the judgment seat, the blood of their immortal spirits on our souls for ever! Let ours be the joy of rather meeting them in glory above for ever-of uniting with them in the endless song which rises before the throne of God and the Lamb-of falling down before the mercyseat with those whom we loved and blessed below, whom we often thought of, and for whom we often prayed-of meeting in paradise those whom we never saw on earth, and forming an acquaintance which shall endure for ever."

TRIALS AT SHANGHAE.

THE great conflict going forward in China between the imperialists and the followers of Tae-ping-wang remains yet undecided. At Shanghae the insurgents continue to hold possession of that city,* although the emperor's troops are engaged in the siege, and, from time to time, essay to recover it. Meanwhile, much suffering is inflicted on the population, as well within the city as of the surrounding districts; and stray cannon-balls cut off many poor innocent creatures, whose only fault is living too near the scene

The band of insurgents which has held Shanghae must not be confounded with the body under the command of Tae-ping-wang. The former have always maintained the worship of idols, whereas the latter have constantly waged war with idolatry.

of action. Among these is one in whom we are interested. Our missionary, the Rev. J. S. Burdon, writing under date of March 14, 1854, says :-"You will be sorry to hear that one of our very few baptized converts has been killed by a cannon-ball from the city. He was a member of the blind class begun by Mr. M'Clatchie, and, I believe, was the first who was baptized by him. The name of the poor man was Sau-vá-Dzun. I do hope the poor fellow remembered enough of the teaching he had already received to enable him to cast himself solely on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation."

Subsequently, the imperial troops having aggressed upon the European community in such wise as to place it in great danger, strong and vigorous measures became requisite. A force was collected, consisting of some men from two small vessels-of-war in harbour, and the European volunteer corps, and with this a portion of the imperialist camp was stormed and destroyed, not, we regret to say, without the loss of some lives. Our missionary school has been broken up a second time, and the premises occupied by a garrison; while all the approaches to the settlement have been barricaded against night attacks, with the view of preventing the houses and go-downs being fired by the imperialists, which they had attempted to accomplish. The missionaries were prepared to run at a moment's notice, and seek shelter on board the ships, although the prospect of abandoning their work was very trying. "This," write our missionaries, "is the day of China's visitation, and we must share in her troubles." Let our readers be much in prayer, that this state of confusion may soon be ended, and opportunity be afforded for the Gospel of peace to go forth on its blessed mission. Lord! hasten the time when nation shall not lift up sword against nation-when the stormy winds and waves of this troublesome world shall be hushed to rest by the Saviour's voice, and there shall be a great calm!-The Church Missionary Gleaner.

A JEWISH YOUTH NOT FAR FROM THE KINGDOM

OF GOD.

"I TOOK my course this month," says Mr. Stern, one of the Church of Scotland missionaries to the Jews in Germany, "into the south of my field of labour, into a district in which I had not been before. I beheld the romantic

country, with its lovely and fertile valleys, its vine-clad hills, and lofty mountains crowned with ruined castles and isolated craggy rocks, in all the glory of vernal beauty. But the vineyard in which I had to labour presented a far different aspect. Its vines are withered and sapless still. I visited the following places :-Henchelheim, Gocklingen, Bergzabern, Vorderweidenthal, &c. On the whole, I found the Jews in the same condition as they are every where else. In the last mentioned place, and also in Busenberg, which are situated in lovely and secluded valleys, they were simpler and more accessible, and I had some delightful experiences among them. At Henchelheim, on the contrary, I was, in several instances, rudely and unceremoniously repulsed; the teacher, in particular, stoutly refused to hear anything about Jesus, and when I endeavoured to speak to him, he left the room.

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"When I left Busenberg, I observed behind me some young people, whom I recognized as Jews. I waited for them; and finding they were going to the same place with myself, I joined myself to them. It was long before I could manage to begin a religious conversation with them, I began, therefore, to talk on indifferent subjects. By this means their hearts gradually opened to me. By the time we had come near to the end of our journey, one of them, whose earnest and humble bearing had all along pleased me, desired of me a solution of the Christian doctrine of the Trinity. He had often inquired of Christian people regarding this subject, but had never obtained a satisfactory answer; and he added, that he was really earnestly desirous to come to a right understanding of the subject. I said, that if he were really in earnest, I should be happy to give him, as far as I could, the desired information. I therefore proposed, that we should adjourn together to a quiet inn in the village which we were approaching, and there thoroughly discuss the subject—and to this he readily assented. At first we were alone; but soon we were joined by a number of villagers, both Jews and Christians,-some of whom merely listened, while others took part in the conversation. I first shewed them, in a simple and popular way, the insufficiency of human reason to decide in matters of divine knowledge, and the necessity of a revelation by God himself, and that it was incumbent on us to receive in faith such a revelation. The young man followed with great attention, and expressed his cordial assent. I then opened my Bible, and shewed how God, in revealing to man His own being, had, according to His Fatherly wisdom, adopted a gradual method,

proceeding from the lower to the higher-that He had not revealed the mystery of the Trinity, which is liable to great misunderstanding by man's carnal reason, till He had first laid a sure foundation for it by making known to the Israelites the unity of the Godhead. I then shewed him, from the prophecies concerning the Messiah, that dignities, names, and works, are attributed to Him, which are the exclusive attributes of God himself,-from which it necessarily follows, that the Messiah must be a divine person; for God hath said that He will not give His glory to another. After this, I spoke to him from the text: "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. I believe that the truth entered into his heart, although he endeavoured, for a long time, to bring forward objections to my statements; but he stated these objections in so modest and upright a manner, that it was easy to meet them. When our discussion had lasted for several hours, he took an affectionate leave of me, thanking me for what he had heard, and for the tracts which I had given him. May the Good Shepherd follow this lost sheep with His eye of mercy! I shall often think of him. It appears to me that he is not far from the kingdom of God."

66 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL HAS BEEN THE SAVING OF MY SOUL."

THE following account of a scholar furnishes a precious testimony to the blessings of the Sabbath school :

"On Monday an event of some moment to our school took place in the death of one of our boys, W— He had been happily led to the Sabbath schoola; nd it was a great blessing to him. He improved so well, and exhibited such information and steadiness that, though he was young, he was put over a junior class. He was in a spinning factory during the week; and it is worthy of notice that, while his good conduct caused us to elevate him in the school, the same cause gave rise to his elevation in the mill to be superintendent of a class of workers, just shewing that faithfulness to God will produce faithfulness to man; and that, as we advance the young in the steadiness which Scripture teaching is wont to produce, we prepare them the better to act a proper part in every position in which

God may place them. Poor W- fell into a decline, and no art of medicine could stop its progress. He could not work; but God provided that he should not want. I mentioned his delicate state to the owner of the mill where he had worked while he could; and, conscious as he was of the faithfulness with which he had served him, he desired him every day, while he could walk, to come and walk in his garden, and allowed him daily to be fed at his home with food convenient for him. So did God fulfil that word: "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want:' and so true is it: Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.' W- -'s illness progressed, and as his latter end drew nigh, I was the more anxious to ascertain the state of his mind. In the earlier part of his illness he said little, but his flowing tears shewed he felt much; but whether they were tears of godly sorrow, working repentance unto salvation not to be repented of, or tears of gratitude for the enjoyment of the blessedness of the man whose iniquity is forgiven, and whose sin is covered, was not very apparent. A little time, however, shewed that his sorrow had been turned into joy. He said that he was not afraid to die,

that he knew whom he had believed, and was persuaded that He was able to keep that which he committed to Him till that day.' A favourite text that dwelt on his heart and lips was one which, he said, he had heard my daughter quote when she was visiting his dying grandfather: God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.' On the day of his death I called to see him, when the dying struggle wasnearly at a close; and I asked if he had recollected what had, under God, been the means of his first religious impressions. Summoning_up the last remains of his feeble strength, he exclaimed: "The Sunday school-the Sunday school-the Sunday school has been the saving of my soul.""

A REMARKABLE CONVERSION.

THE Church Missionary Society has an interesting and extensive mission at Tinnevelly.

"It is divided," says the Church Missionary Gleaner, "into thirteen districts, in which are to be found 28,444 professing Christians, under the charge of eight European missionaries and seven native pastors, besides native cate

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