way, and in front of the wall little shops where native merchants sell their goods. The only foreigner who has seen the inside of this temple was an English officer, who painted and dressed himself like a native, and thus slipped in through the gate. When the priests of the idol, the Brahmins, found out that their holy place had been defiled, they were so angry with all the English who lived in the town that they were obliged to flee for their lives. Thinking that those who chased after them wanted to get their money as well as to kill them, they strewed silver coins along the road, and, while the natives stopped to pick them up, they reached a place of safety.1 In two of the buildings are some girls, who have been taught to dance beautifully every morning and evening before the idol. Three times a day, also, great quantities of the choicest food are put before this wooden image. The Brahmins tell the people that the God only wants to smell of the food and to look at it. So when he has smelled and looked long enough, these crafty priests quietly take the food and make a feast for themselves! It is evident they live by their wits rather than their work. You per But if you What a miserable thing is idolatry. Only think of it-to worship a god that cannot see nor hear nor talk-a senseless log of wood, or a piece of brass or silver or gold. haps smile to hear that people can be so foolish. had been born in India, and rocked in one of their cradles and taught by one of their mothers, you would have grown up just like them. Never forget to praise God for making you to differ. "I thank the goodness and the grace LITTLE MARY AND HER CENTS. A little girl by the name of Mary, who was born in this happy Christian land, came one day to her mother with a request. She had fixed her heart upon a certain object which she very much desired her mother would procure for her. It was a small object in itself, but to her mind, it seemed very large and important. Her mother playfully asked her, "And what will my little daughter give me in return?" For a while she seemed lost in thought. A conflict was evidently going on in her bosom. At length, summoning up all her resolution, she said with the deepest emotion, "Mother, when all the heathen in the world have the Bible, I will give you my box of cents." She was in the habit of putting all the cents she got into a little box, and from time to time giving them to some missionary agent to purchase Bibles for the heathen; and she could not think of using her money for any other object until all the heathen had the Bible. [For the Youth's Dayspring.] WHAT WILL TAKE AWAY SIN. The Governor of Oroomiah in Persia is a Prince, and uncle to the King of Persia. A few weeks ago he was suddenly taken very sick, and the people about him were afraid he would die. Several of his servants came running to me, and I went in haste to see him. I found him very ill, lying on the floor in the middle of a large room, and some twenty or thirty of his principal servants standing around him pale and troubled. The news of his sickness had spread in the city, and all the people were anxious about him, and some of the chief men were coming to see how the Prince was. One rich man came into the room where the Prince was lying, with his hands full of money, which he wished distributed in alms among the poor. Two sheep were also led into the room after him and brought up to the side of the sick man. He raised his hand and laid it on the head of each one of them, moving his lips at the same time in prayer. The sheep were then taken out of the room, and offered as a sacrifice to God. Now, my young friends, I suppose you understand what all this means. You know that Mussulmans do not regard Christ as a sacrifice for sin. They think that they must commend themselves to God by alms, and therefore that rich man brought money to be given to the poor in behalf of the sick Prince. They think that God is pleased with the sacrifice of animals; therefore sheep were brought and killed. They know they are sinners; therefore the Prince put his hand on the head of the sheep, confessing that he deserved to die, and praying that God would accept the offering of the innocent animal in his stead. How grateful you ought to be, that you were born, and that you live, in a Christian land, where the light of the gospel shines, and where even little children know that Christ is the only Savior of sinners, and that alms and the offering of animals will not save the soul. Yours, truly, A. H. WRIGHT. Oroomiah, April, 1850. HOW TO AID MISSIONS. An old laboring man, in a village in Kent, when first told of the Church Missionary Society, exclaimed, "Well, I have always wondered, when people talked about India, why it was that God had given us that large country; but now I know." He immediately became a collector, and brought £6 or £7 every year, which he had got in small sums from his neighbors. When asked how he was able to collect so much, he said, "Why, ma'am, I take some missionary papers with me, and go of an evening, after my work, to a village, and ask the people if I shall read to them; they generally are very glad I should,—so I sit down and read till sometimes they cry, and I cry too, and then they are sure to give me something." He often used to say, "Ah! if I were young, and God would let me go, I would not stay in England. But I am too old—he must go instead,”—alluding to a beloved grandson, whom he had brought up, and whom he ardently desired should be employed in missionary work. The desire of his heart was granted, and one of the last pieces of earthly intelligence that reached his dying ear was, that his grandson had entered on his labor in a distant land.-South Indian Sketches. A CHILD GIVEN TO HYENAS! One day a missionary was at a place called Mafissa, when some young women brought to him a child between two and three years old, which they had just picked up near several high rocks, from one of which it had evidently fallen down. Its body was covered with bruises, and its little tongue was bitten and torn by its teeth, no doubt from the great pain which it had suffered. After inquiry, the child's mother was found, and brought to the missionary; when, without shame or sorrow, she said, that, as the boy was weak and rickety, and she wished to get rid of him, she had laid him up amongst the rocks in a place where there are many hyenas, and that, in order to draw these ravenous creatures to the spot, that they might eat the child, her husband had killed a goat, and had put it near him! Dear young friends, the gospel in those lands has already saved many little ones from a cruel death, and if you and others will do what you can to send out more missionaries, all heathen mothers will learn to love their children as your mothers love you; and their souls, as well as their lives, will be saved from destruction.-Juv. Miss. Mag. THE LITTLE ZULU BOY. More than ten years ago an old woman appeared before the door of Dr. Adams, at Umlazi in South Africa, who sank down upon her knees and begged for some food. She was emaciated, dirty, hungry and nearly naked, an old tattered skin garment being her only covering. Her name was Umbalasi. She had a little son named Unembula, about eight years old. Both of them were received into the family of the missionary, and both became very devoted Christians. When Unembula grew up he was married to a pious girl and had two children. Below will be found an inte resting account of one of these children who died last year. Little Ira was a sprightly, interesting boy, and his parents were very much attached to him. His grandmother, Umbalasi, also loved him very much, and carried him with her when she went to her garden or to visit her friends. We have frequently seen her at a distance, on her way to the mission house, with Ira on her back, his little hand stretched out towards the different objects he observed in passing along, inquiring their names. Umbalasi, after telling him, pointed above and told him of the great God who made them all. But his days were numbered; for God was about to take him away, and we hope to himself, for he was a child of many prayers. He became very sick. The missionary, being a physician, gave him such medicines as his disease seemed to require, but still he grew worse and worse. On a Saturday afternoon, the day before he died, Unembula came to us weeping, and said that his little son was nearly gone, and he wanted tools and boards to make a coffin for him. These were furnished, and he with another native convert commenced their work near our house and opposite my window. As I felt much sympathy for the father, I observed them closely and saw the large tears trickle down his cheeks as he proceeded in his employment. The coffin was soon finished and carried home. We visited the family that evening, as we had frequently done, and found them with some of their kind Christian friends seated around the room. Umbalasi was holding the child in her arms. As both Umbalasi and the mother appeared quite exhausted with long watching, anxiety and grief, we urged them to commit the child to some friend present and take rest; but Umbalasi could not be persuaded to give him up for a moment. She said she wished to have her grand-child die in her arms, so that, when the spirit left the body, she with the mother might return their beloved one to him who gave him to them. Little Ira died that night, and they dressed him in a white cotton shroud and laid him in his little coffin preparatory to the funeral. THE FUNERAL. At ten o'clock on Monday morning, being the time appointed for the funeral, we went to the house of mourning and found quite a large congregation in readiness for the missionary. The women and children were seated on mats spread in the centre of the room. The men sat and stood around the room. One seat and a few chairs were left for the missionaries and their wives, and the coffin was placed in the centre. It was affecting to see the parents take their last look at little Ira, though there was no wailing or wild and extravagant expressions of sorrow, as is usual among their heathen neighbors on such occasions, but deep grief mingled with submission to the will of their heavenly Father. After all had taken a last sad look, and the children had turned away from the coffin, (for there were many present,) the missionary, whose eyes showed the deep feeling of his heart, addressed the children and told them they saw the young could die, and that they ought to be ready also. The solemnity and stillness were very impressive. The procession was then formed, the tolling of the station bell broke the silence, and we moved on to the grave, where the missionary addressed all present. Then they laid little Ira away in his grave, to remain until the sound of the last trumpet shall summon the dead to judgment. My dear young friends, you see what the gospel has done |