metal found in cavities of rocks, or the | beds of rivers, running from them; sterile soil, with a scanty vegetation, and of a sickly hue, caused by metallic vapours from within; the sunbeams strongly reflected from the face of the rock; and mountains loudly reverberating a sound. All these qualities are observable, more or less, in the serra of José, particularly the two last. Wherever the sunbeams struck full on the face of the rock, in certain positions, they were sent back with an almost dazzling reflection; this, however, might arise from the lustre of the mica slate. But the reverberation of sound was very remarkable. We had every day, almost, a thunder-storm, and the repercussion from the face of the ridge was so loud, sharp, and distinct, that it seemed as if the hard stone was hit and broken by a number of sledges striking upon it; and certainly, if this symptom be any indication of metallic veins, it nowhere exists so strong as in the serra of José.-Dr. Walsh's Brazil.

THE PROUD.

"There is a generation, O how lofty are their eyes! and their eyelids are lifted up." Prov. Xxx. 13.

BEFORE He, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined into the human heart, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, there is one respect in which man may be said to be unchangeable. The great outlines of his character, the delineations of his moral nature, the characteristics of his inner being, remain the same in all ages. The external manifestations may be modified by climate, commerce, social influences, and civilization; but strip him of all these external coatings, reduce him to himself, analyze the workings of his heart, estimate his passions; and whether in burning or frozen climates, whether in barbarous or civilized regions, whether in the pathless desert or the crowded city, there can be no difficulty in identifying the species, and determining of each individual as he passes under review, "This belongs to the same great family!"

True, the difference between the accomplished European lady and the degraded female of Mysore, and between the habits of the educatedEnglish citizen and those of the African bushman, and

between the song of praise ascending from a Christian assembly to the Prince of peace and the war-yell of the red Indian, exciting to deeds of carnage, is very great. The contrast is complete. The moral gulph between them is wide and deep; but Christianity can cross it, bearing on its wings salvation from sin, with its constant companions, education and civilization; and beginning its great work on the heart of the African and the Indian by making them new creatures in Christ Jesus, it can raise them to the same elevation to which it has elevated others of the human family, who were, previous to its transforming visit, as degraded as they are now.

This is a historical fact.

It is not

mere theory, unsupported by evidence. The history of Christianity is the history of its conquests over degradation and sin in all their forms. Take a specimen of this history from an inspired Epistle. The apostle Paul, writing to "the church of God" at Corinth, having alluded to the litigious, the fraudulent, the fornicator, the idolater, the adulterer, the effeminate, the thief, the covetous, the drunkard, and the extortioner, adds, "And such were some of you; but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God."

The end of

Both Jew and Gentile are under sin. There is none that doeth good by natural inclination. The race has fallen. The proofs of this fall are coextensive with the existence of the race, embracing every age, every nation, every tribe, every family, every man. creation has been lost sight of, and other ends pursued, opposed at once to the Creator's glory and the creature's good. But the manifestations of this universal depravity are exceedingly varied. The seeds of moral disease lie in every heart: in this there is uniformity; but in the character of the weeds produced there is diversity. All are noxious, but the poison exudes in different ways. Specifically they are one, visibly they differ. Some physiologists have doubted whether the different nations of men have sprung from the same parentage; the moral anatomist has no room to doubt upon the subject. To him it is clear that the sons of men are all born "in the same likeness;" for "the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance,

emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like.' All these are the works of the same fallen nature; but whilst the prominent characteristic of one unsanctified man is covetousness, that of another is impurity; the leading vice of a third is intemperance, that of a fourth profanity, that of a fifth pride, and so on. The inspired writers recognise and brand them all; they are described for our admonition; but the good as well as the bad are presented to notice in the Bible, the first for imitation, the last as warnings. Every character in the Bible presented for imitation derived its excellent qualities, not from earth, but from heaven; and every picture exhibited there as a beacon to warn succeeding_generations of the rocks and quicksands in the sea of life, inherited its repulsive features, not from the source of life and purity, but from the cause of death—sin.

Of the proud it may be said, in the words of Jesus, "That which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God;" for whilst no class of characters have received greater honours from "the children of this world," there is perhaps none more strongly marked by the reprobation of heaven. The Lord hateth "a proud look," Prov. vi. 17; and it is placed first on the list of the seven things that are an abomination unto him." "The proud he knoweth afar off," Psa. cxxxviii. 6, and he has said, "I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease," Isa. xiii. 11. He has declared an high look, and a proud heart" to be sin, Prov. xxi. 4, and that the "proud shall stumble and fall, and none shall raise him up," Jer. 1. 32. He has said, "Be not proud: for the Lord hath spoken,' Jer. xiii. 15; and "God resisteth the proud," Jas. iv. 6. The object of some of his providential dispensations is, that he may "hide pride from man," Job xxxiii. 17; and we are assured that "when pride cometh, then cometh shame," Prov. xi. 2; and "contention," chap. xiii. 10; and that it is the forerunner of destruction, chap. xvi. 18; xvii. 19; xviii. 12. Many of the severest prophetic threatenings relate to this passion. "The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it hath lighted upon Israel. And all the people shall know, even Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria, that say, in the pride and stoutness of heart, The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones; the sycamores are cut down, but

we will change them into cedars. Therefore the Lord shall set up the adversaries of Rezin against him, and join his enemies together; the Syrians before, and the Philistines behind; and they shall devour Israel with open mouth. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still," Isa. ix, 8-12. Again : "We have heard of the pride of Moab; he is very proud: even of his haughtiness, and his pride, and his wrath: but his lies shall not be so, (rather, vain are his lies.') Therefore shall Moab howl for Moab, every one shall howl: for the foundations of Kirhareseth shall ye mourn; surely they are stricken," chap. xvi. 6, 7. Again: "Pass ye over to Tarshish; howl, ye inhabitants of the isle. Is this your joyous city, whose antiquity is of ancient days? her own feet shall carry her afar off to sojourn. Who hath taken this counsel against Tyre, the crowning city, whose merchants are princes, whose traffickers are the honourable of the earth? The Lord of hosts hath purposed it, to stain the pride of all glory, and to bring into contempt all the honourable of the earth," chap. xxiii. 6-9. Again: "And he shall spread forth his hands in the midst of them, as he that swimmeth spreadeth forth his hands to swim and he shall bring down their pride, together with the spoils of their hands," chap. XXV. 11. Woe to the crown of pride!" chap. xxviii. 1. "Thus saith the Lord,— I will mar the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem," Jer. xiii. 9. "Thy terribleness hath deceived thee, and the pride of thine heart, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, that holdest the height of the hill: though thou shouldest make thy nest as high as the eagle, I will bring thee down from thence, saith the Lord. Also Edom shall be a desolation every one that goeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss at all the plagues thereof," chap. xlix. 16, 17.

Among the prophetic symptoms of the desolation of Israel, it is mentioned, "pride hath budded," Ezek. vii. 10. "Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hands of the poor and needy. And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good," chap. xvi. 48-50. Both Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar found, in the words

churches, they are its roots of bitterness."

And the fact is not more painful than true, that the proud venture into the sanctuary of the Most High, and mingle with the worshippers of that great Being, before whom all men die "as grasshoppers"-who has "no respect of persons,' -and to whom "all things lie naked and open." That the lofty spirit, inflated with the idea of its own excellences, should venture into the presence of the Searcher of hearts, with the idea of being distinguished on their account, is to be accounted for only by the bewildering influence of depravity, or by the principle laid down by Jeremiah: "The heart is deceitful above all things."

The injury which pride inflicts on those who are the objects of its scorn, though too obvious to escape notice, is less to be deplored than the barrier which the proud man erects against his own salvation. This is the most solemn aspect of the case, and by which, therefore, the Christian will be most deeply impressed; for so long as a man arrogantly thanks God that he is "not as other men," there are unequivocal proofs that his convictions of sin are not of that kind which lead to 66 repentance towards God, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ." The salvation of the gospel is neither understood nor valued by him. The doctrines of the cross, with all their significance, grandeur, breadth, and power, are unappreciated, the love of Christ unfelt, the evil of sin undeplored, and the glory of God unsought. His exalted conception regarding himself, render unimpressive the inspired description of the Redeemer's worth. He has "a lie in his right hand," but he deems it a price wherewith to ransom his soul. A deceived heart hath turned him aside, and his "trust is in vanity." Offended at the prescribed way of cleansing, he exclaims, "Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them and be clean?" but as no modification of the rule can take place to gratify his prejudices, he turns and goes away in a rage. Overlooking the Divine axiom, "Not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth," 2 Cor. x. 18; he "kindles a fire, and compasseth himself about with sparks," in whose light he thinks he can walk securely. The glory of Christ is obscured by his own; and the love of

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God enters not his heart, because it is pre-occupied by the love of self. Notwithstanding the fact, that the gospel comes for the purpose of "casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ," he is offended that the Redeemer should "eat with publicans and sinners," or suffer the wretched to "touch him," or have as his disciples "unlearned and ignorant men." Because the penitent prodigal is welcomed with music to his Father's home, he is angry and will not go in; and every act of favour bestowed upon the contrite, by the God of all grace, he construes into neglect of his superior claims.

Christians, in their associated capacity, are forbidden to minister to the self-importance of individuals by undue respect to their appearance, without reference to character. "My brethren," writes the apostle James, chap. ii. 1-4, “have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; and ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool: are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?" It is, indeed, true, that Christianity does not lose sight of the distinctions that obtain in human society; so far from that, it fully recognises them; it marks official position; the language used by its inspired advocates is admirably courteous; and those precepts which relate to the intercourse of man with man, allude to those distinctions, and enjoin attention to them: Rom. xiii. 7. But hasty judgment, partiality in conduct, the respect shown to elegant attire, and despising the poor because of their poverty, are rebuked by the apostle; and it is not saying too much to add, that there is room for the rebuke in the present day. It is plain that while Christians should be courteous to all, they should never so act as to warrant the inference that they forget that, at the throne of grace, all are alike welcome, and that all have need of mercy. W. L.

THE SAND-MARTIN.

ENTER the country village as the after

noon

"Declines and falls

Into the mellow eve,"

and the gushing melody of the birds is heard ere the feathered races seek, "Nature's sweet restorer"-the laden bee is humming its way to join the queenly hive, and the swallow shoots with the velocity of an arrow, and more than its certainty, along the field, or skims the pond with swiftest and untiring pinion.

This bird is regarded with peculiar complacency by Englishmen of every rank. The intelligent naturalist, however, ponders on the fact that it has traversed the broad bosom of the ocean, has visited far distant shores, and become familiar with climes almost unknown to the races of civilized man; and the

country lad, with unconcealed astonishment and admiration, observes its flight, respects its habitation and its brood, and perhaps offers some rude conjecture on the cause of its disappearance during the long months of winter.

When I used to rise in a morning last autumn," says Gilbert White, "and see the swallows and martins clustering on the chimneys and thatch of the neighbouring cottages, I could not help being touched with a secret delight, mixed with some degree of mortification,with delight, to observe with how much ardour and punctuality these poor little birds obeyed the strong impulse towards migration, imprinted on their minds by the great Creator; and with some degree of mortification, when I reflected that, after all our pains and inquiries, we are not yet quite certain to what regions they do migrate."

M