titles is Lord of the White, Red, and Mot- | little difference from that of any other. tled Elephants; and, I am informed, the The king was in the habit of paying his resame distinction is shown to those of the first mentioned colours, by the Siamese. "An elephant, termed red, was kept in a verandah of the white elephant's residence; but I could perceive, in his colour, household." spects to the white elephant every morning, and of attending when he was taken to the river to be washed, and he paid this beast the same honours as he received from his BE KIND. Be kind to thy father, for, when thou wast young His footsteps are feeble, once fearless and bold; Be kind to thy mother, for lo! on her brow 0, well may'st thou cherish and comfort her now, Be kind to thy brother: his heart will have dearth Be kind to thy brother wherever you are : An ornament purer and richer by far, Than pearls from the depths of the sea. Be kind to thy sister: not many may know The wealth of the ocean lies fathoms below Thy kindness shall bring to thee many sweet hours "Who are all of us here alive this day."-Deut. v. 3. I HAVE now conducted your little newspaper, dear children, to the close of another year; and cannot allow the circumstance to pass without trying to turn it to some good account. Let me have your attention, then, to the text you have just read. It is the language of Moses. He was taking a review of all God's dealings with him and his people in years that were then gone bye. He thought of the thousands of Israel who had died-of the dangers through which he, and those now left, had come and of the many mercies that had marked their course. The wonder was, that any of them were alive. But so they were; and with gratitude and love he put down the sentence that stands above. I use it in reference to ourselves. You and I, dear children, are alive, and what a wonder is it! I. We are alive; but many have died around us. Since this year set in, thousands have passed into eternity. At almost every second of the clock a soul has passed either to heaven or to hell. And yet we are alive. The young, the healthy, and the blooming, have died. Little companions sweet little brothers, darling little sisters, have been cut down by the unsparing hand of death. Yet we are left alive. The old, and the sickly, and the strong, and the vigorous, and the feeble, have also died. I have followed several to the grave; and you have seen the funeral processions of many more. Multitudes have died; but dealt with us as he did with the barren figwe are left alive. tree; but no! he has spared us a little longer, and here we are, through his mercy yet alive. II. Dangers have beset our paths; but yet we are alive. Fevers have attacked others, and we have walked on uninjured. Consumption has cut off many, and we are left unhurt. Painful and agonizing diseases have been witnessed by us, and fearful accidents have happened to others; but we are yet alive. Dangers stand thick o'er all the ground, To hurry mortals home." And yet we are alive! III. Our ingratitude and sins might have made God cut us down; but yet we are alive. Every day has seen us sin. We have lived amidst showers of blessings, and too often forgot the giver. We have had mercies without number, and yet have used few to God's glory. He might have justly And to what should all this lead you? 1. To humble gratitude. Your lives have been marked by kindness. Your food, your clothes, your kind friends, all your comforts, and all your joys, come from God, and deserve your thanks in return. 2. To solemn thought. If others have died in the past year, you may die the next. They were not too young, neither are you. Are you prepared? There is no preparation but an interest in Christ. Have you that? If not, then seek to have it to-day, and so stand ready for your latter end. 3. To holy resolution. This year has brought you so much nearer to eternity. Very soon, and your life, and all your opportunities with it, will have come to an end. Work, then, while it is called " to-day," and resolve that you will do far more for Christ in the coming year than you ever did before! Price d., or 4d. per dozen. Pablished by J. GAIL & SON, 38 North Bridge, Edinburgh. G. GALLIE, Glasgow. W. M'COMB, Belfast. J. ROBERTSON, Dublin. HOULSTON & STONEMAN, London. 江 Two years ago I told you many stories witnesses to the scene who are not shown about the island of Madagascar, and the in the picture, and who do you think were sufferings of the Christians there. Since, these? They were bright angels, who others have died as martyrs, and many gathered, no doubt, above the Saviour's still are suffering very cruel persecutions. servant, waiting to bear her happy spirit It is delightful, however, to know, that from all its pains, and lodge it safe in none who professed their sincere love to heaven. How much more happy was the Christ at the beginning of these trials, have martyr than the cruel queen! gone back to the world; but that all have stood their ground. There have been twenty martyrs, but not one apostate. Dear children, imitate those martyrs. Stand firm for Christ, and rather bear any trial than deny him as your Lord. ReThe picture at the head of this paper member what he has said: "Be thou represents the martyrdom of one of these faithful unto death, and I will give thee Madagascar Christians. There were other a crown of life." July 1846. MAHOMED RAHEM. MAHOMED RAHEM. W word shall not return unto me void; but it shall accomplish that which I please, and prosper in the thing whereto I sent it."-Isaiah lv. " * The traveller was so interested in what He ** here to doubt all heard of Henry | Mereka, pào dovodi missionary to Persia he heard, that he went to see him, and *** line who hid in the midst of his found him reading Cowper's poems. aadik sa we were hoping he was entered at once into conversation with While he lived him, and in the course of it, made some in una prod home with many learned Ma- remarks about sincerity in religion, which 24 wad whom he disputed about struck the traveller, and made him ask ako say of whom he gave him what religion he professed to be. ཝོ,, ཀིཾ པཎྞིཏཝཱསྶརི ན ཎཾ, tu some cases, dat à many others 40PNY GRZTION Since Mahomed Rahem seemed astonished at kachvo pro cases of the the question, and struggled with his feeltid I am was for a few minutes before he replied, . "Are you a Mussulman ?" (follower of Mahomet,) he asked. THE HINDOO GIRL SEEKING JESUS. 51 ease. He dwelt among us for more than made me avoid his society though he rea year. I was then a decided enemy to sided here so long. Just before he left I the infidels, as the Christians are called by could not refrain from paying him a visit. the followers of Mahomet; and I visited Our conversation sealed my conversion. this teacher of the despised sect, with the He gave me a book, it has ever since been declared object of treating him with scorn, my constant companion; the study of it and exposing his doctrines to contempt. has formed my most delightful employAlthough I persevered in this manner ment, and its contents have often consoled towards him, I found that every interview me.' increased my respect for him, and lessened Here his story ended, and as he ceased my confidence in the faith of my fathers. to speak he put into the traveller's hands His great forbearance towards his oppo- a copy of the New Testament in Persian. nents, and the calm and convincing man- On one of the blank leaves was writtenner in which he overthrew their arguments," There is joy in heaven over one sinner made me listen to him, carefully to inquire that repenteth. HENRY MARTYN." into his doctrines, and at last to read a Since then we have heard nothing of tract he had published in reply to a defence Mahomed Rahem, but we trust that if he of Mahommedanism by the Mollahs. The has died ere this, he died resting on Jesus. result was, I became convinced the young Oh, then! what a meeting would he and man was right. Shame and fear, however, Henry Martyn have, before the throne of kept me from avowing my opinion, and God! THE HINDOO GIRL SEEKING JESUS. From the Youth's Missionary Repository. WHAT other religions are there besides for those who obeyed him. the Christian? Heathen? Yes. The heathen worship gods without number, the work of men's hands. Many and various are their ways of worshipping, but all wicked and foolish, false and cruel. Are there any others? Think. There is a nation who worship the same God, and read the law of Moses, but they think it is right to offer bulls and goats in sacrifice; they are not Christians; they do not believe in Jesus. Who are these? They are the Jews. Are there any others? Yes, there is one other religion. Those who are of this religion are neither Christians, nor heathens, nor Jews. And yet they copy some things from each: they are the followers of the false prophet Mahomet or Mahommed. This man began to be known about 606 years after the birth of Christ. He pretended to be greater than Jesus Christ, and that he could secure endless happiness The faith of his followers was summed up in these words, "There is but one God, and Mahommed is his prophet." He wrote a book called the Koran for his followers to use as their Bible, and he pretended that the angel Gabriel brought it down to him from heaven. I cannot stay to tell you all the foolish things and wicked falsehoods of this book. The religion of Mahommed spread very widely and reached India, and there are many Mahommedans in India now. You, dear children, have been shown the right way. You have been taught that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. I am going to tell you of a little girl who had no one to show her, and had to try for herself. She tried the religion of Mahommed, she tried the worship of idols, she tried the faith of Jesus; she tried all, and then she made her choice. But you shall hear her whole history. |