THE

YOUTHS' MAGAZINE;

OR

Evangelical Miscellany.

NOVEMBER, 1833.

DELHI.

DELHI is situated on the left bank of the river Jumna, in lat. 28° 40′ N. and long 77° 5' E. about nine hundred and eighty miles, travelling distance, in a north-westerly direction from Calcutta. There is nothing in its locality particularly attractive, the appearance of the adjacent country is sterile and unfruitful; and the river though wide, and presenting the surface of a fine sheet of water, is unnavigable, during the dry season, to boats of any considerable burden. The modern city, called Shahjehanabad, taking that name from its royal founder, the Mogul Emperor Shah Jehan, but commonly known by the old name of Delhi, lies on the banks of the Jumna, just above the extensive mass of ruins that was formerly the ancient Mohammedan capital. The city is about seven miles in circumference, and is surrounded by a good fortification wall and a wide ditch, rebuilt within these few years at a great expense by the British government.

Hamilton's Indian Gazetteer contains the following account of the present city of Delhi :

"The town has seven gates, namely, the Lahore, Ajmeer, Turkoman, Delhi, Mohur, Cashmere, and Agra gates; all built of free stone. Near the Ajmeer gate is a madrissa, or college of great extent, built by Ghazi-ud-deen, the grandson of Mizam-ul-Mulk. The tomb of the founder, who with his family lies buried here, is much admired for the exquisite sculpture of its screen of white marble; as are also the tombs of Kummer-ud-deen Khan, Ali Merdan Khan, Ghazi-ud-deen Khan, and Sefdar Jung. There is also the garden and palace of Coodeeah Begum, the mother of the emperor Mohammed Shah, the palace of Saadit Khan, and that of Sultan Dara Shekoh, the unfortunate brother of Aurungzebe. The first is now a dilapidated ruin; and the last has been converted into an English dwelling. They are all surrounded by high walls, and take up a considerable space of ground, as they comprehend both stables for all sorts of animals, and music galleries, besides an extensive seraglio."

The open space that appears in the fore-ground of the drawing, goes round this palace or citadel wall, and the broadest and best street in Delhi, called the Chandnee Choke, leads up into this space of ground. In this street is the Mosque of Roschin-ud-Dowlah, on the top of which it is said Nadir Shah, the Persian conqueror in 1736, sat and witnessed the massacre of the Delhians, with his countenance dark and terrible, as it is described, so that none but slaves durst approach him; until the unhappy king of Delhi himself came near in the humblest posture, and prayed him to spare the city; his supplication was heard, and the sword was sheathed, after 100,000 of the inhabitants had been put to death.

From Captain Elliott's Views in the East.

ON ETERNITY.

(FROM SHERLOCK'S SERMONS.)

SHOULD the punishments of another life be, what we have too much reason to fear they will be, what words can then express the folly of sin? Should the Author of our days in this world suffer the souls of the good to expire, and should religion at last prove a deceit, we know the worst of it; it is an error for which we cannot suffer after death, nor will infidels there have the pleasure to reproach us with our mistake, for they and we, in equal rest, shall sleep the sleep of death. But should our hopes and fears prove true-should they be so unhappy as not to die for ever, what miserable hope is the only comfort that infidelity affords— what pains and torments must they then undergo. Could I represent to you the different states of good and bad men-could I give you the prospect which the blessed martyr Stephen had, and shew you the blessed Jesus at the right hand of God, surrounded with angels, and the spirits of just men made perfect-could I open your ears to hear the unceasing hymns of praise which the blessed above sing to Him that was and is to come, to the Lamb that was slain, but alive for ever-could I lead you through the unbounded regions of eternal day, and shew you the immortal and ever blooming joys of the saints, who are arrived at rest from their labors, and live for ever in the presence of God; OR, could I change the scene, and unbar the iron gates of hell, and carry you through the solid darkness of that fire which will never go out, and the worm that never dies-could I shew you the apostate angels fast bound in eternal chains, or the souls of wicked men overwhelmed with torment and despair-could I open your ears to hear the den itself groan with the continual cries of misery, which can never reach the throne of mercy, but return in sad echoes, and add even to the very horrors of hell. Could I thus set before you the different ends of the religious and the infidel, you would want no other proof to convince you that nothing can prevent a wicked man from being miserable for ever through unbelief. But though neither the tongues of men or angels can express the joys of heaven, or describe the pains of hell, yet if there be any truth in religion, these things are certain and near at hand.

C.

THE COW TREE.

BARON VAN HUMBOLD and his fellow travellers having left Porto Cabello in South America, proceeded to the valleys of Aragua, and stopped at the farm of Barbula. Having heard of a tree the juice of which resembled milk and was used as an article for food, they visited it, and found that the statements made to them were correct. It is named the Palo de Vaca, or Cow Tree, and has oblong, pointed leaves, with a fleshy kind of fruit, containing one and sometimes two nuts. An incision being made in the trunk, there issues an abundance of thick glutinous milky fluid, perfectly free from acrimony, and having an agreeable smell. It is drunk by the negroes and free people who work in the plantations. The travellers took a considerable quantity of it without the least injury. When exposed to the air, this juice presents on its surface, a yellowish cheesy substance, in membranous layers which are elastic, and in five or six days become sour and afterwards putrify. The Cow Tree appears to be peculiar to the littoral Cordilleras, and occurs most plentifully between Barbula and the lake of Maracaybo. For several months of the year not a single shower moistens its foliage. Its branches appear dead and dried. It is at the rising of the sun that this vegetable fountain is most abundant. The blacks and natives are then seen hastening from all quarters, furnished with large bowls to receive the milk. Some employ them under the tree itself, while others carry the juice home to their children. We seem to see the family of a shepherd who distributes the milk of his flock.-(Humbold's Travels to the Equinoxial Regions.)

R. C.

DISAPPOINTMENT.

I AM the daughter of a gentleman, who held a situation which enabled and required him to live handsomely, but left his family at his death much in the state in which it would have been had he never possessed it, with this difference only, and that was one of no small consideration, namely, that my mother and myself, for I was an only child, had acquired habits of self-indulgence and feelings of self-consequence, which we might never have known had we never experienced the sort of temporary elevation which arose from the situation of my father. We did not choose, after

our heavy loss, to remain in the society which had been accustomed to see us in our day of prosperity; but considering that we had quite a sufficiency to live with some elegance, though in a small way, in some country town far from the metropolis, we at length determined on living in a neat market town, on the borders of Wales, where the magnificence of the views, for many of the mountains were visible from the place, and the cheapness of provisions afforded no slight attraction.

There, having found a house at the end of the principal street, standing back in a garden which some elegant minded person had arranged in such a manner as to give to the whole domain the air we wished, that of the ornamented cottage, we took a few weeks to settle ourselves, and these things being effected to our satisfaction, and our small household being arranged, we gave the usual signal for being in a state to be visited, namely, we appeared at church, the rector of the parish, to whom we had brought an introduction, having offered us two sittings in his pew. I make no comment on this peculiar custom, by which the movements of fashionable society are directed, by the appearance of a family in a public place of worship, Like many other customs, this one probably originated from proper motives; but be this as it may, we expected that this signal being given, our house would be crowded the next day-every one, no doubt, being impatient to see and become acquainted with the two very superior persons who had thus condescended to enlighten with their presence a place so far removed from the scene of fashion as was our little town.

It is astonishing how people in general miscalculate their consequence in the world! we are not of half the importance we suppose ourselves to be. My poor mother, who, praised be redeeming love, saw things in a far different light before she died, often talked over our state of mind at that time, and praised God for having made us in the end to differ so widely from what we were in the beginning. "Well, Amelia," said she, as soon as we got back into our parlour, "what did you think of the congregation; what did you think of our acquaintance which are to be?" "6 Vulgar," I replied, very vulgar. I saw only two or three tolerably looking people in the church. In the first instance the doctor's lady who sat in the pew with us, though I must confess