favoured few my name was included; accordingly, and we found ourselves in the open street. A moat the appointed hour, we assembled at the law-mentary gaze in the direction of the crowd conyer's table. In most parts of India, as well as in firmed our previous suspicion, and balls came the Straits, it is usual for young men at a bache- whizzing by in most unpleasant proximity to our lors' party to be sans façon. The heat is so persons. intense, sometimes, that even the thin white cambric jackets are felt an inconvenience, and are accordingly doffed. This was precisely the case with us on the present occasion. Well, the dinner passed off, and the dessert came on. We sat waiting for the hour to arrive when the coolness of the evening would permit of our mounting our ponies, and taking a canter in the environs of George Town. The streets are at all times quiet in Penang, but more especially so between the hours of three and five o'clock, when people for the most part are enjoying a siesta.

At the instant I was about to turn, and take to my heels for the sea, I witnessed a most extraordinary phenomenon. A fat old Chinaman, who to all appearance was flying like ourselves from the vengeance of the marauders, suddenly took a most astonishing leap into the air, and disappeared over the wall of a neighbouring court-yard. Before I had time to conjecture how this sudden display of agility was effected, I had sufficient motives to put my own to the test; for, not two yards in front of me, and evidently having singled me out as a capital target, there came tearing down at full speed a huge mad buffalo, equal in height and strength of limb to any bison I had ever met with in the Wynard Jungle. There was the fire of anger and madness in his eye, and his mouth was covered with foam and blood. I could almost feel the heat of his hard breathing as I turned precipitately with terror and fled for my life. If ever fear lent wings to human feet, mine must have been decorated with as many as ever gave speed to a Mercury. I dared not look behind, but still I heard and felt the infuriated thing, and every instant expected to feel his sharp-pointed horns piercing my back and lungs. From my friend's house it was barely three hundred yards to the jetty; but then I had to turn to my right, and so doing the buffalo would most indubitably have doubled upon and caught me in the very act of turning. This I saw at a moment's glance, and consequently there was nothing left for me but to make straight for the fort, which was not more than four hundred yards from the jetty. Immediately before me was a species of railing, which fenced off an exercise ground for the artillery, and was of sufficient height to prevent donkeys and cows from leaping over. This fence was made of posts planted into the ground at regular distances, through which a stout rope was passed. Had I not been so hotly pressed, I could easily have stooped under the rope and so have escaped; but that was now out of the question: my life depended upon the jump, and no acrobat in the streets of London ever more astonished the multitude than I did myself on this occasion, by the tremendous spring I took. I alighted safely on the other side, but, without pausing a moment, renewed my flight towards the sentry at the fort-gate, who, seeing my danger, was rushing forward to meet me.

On this occasion, however, while still seated at the table, we were suddenly startled by the very unusual sounds of firearms, and the distant hootings of a multitude. What could it be? We listened attentively; there was no mistake about the matter at all, the authors of the alarm, whoever they might be, were evidently nearing us, and that at a rapid rate. The firing was all the time kept up smartly, not in volleys, but it resembled the firing of the light infantry platoon. What could it be? was the question again repeated. At length we unanimously came to the conclusion that it must be an émeute, commenced most probably by the Malays and the Achenese, who were seeking some blood-thirsty revenge, and would doubtless, as we feared, massacre every one that crossed their path. At this moment a tremendous shout was raised at the top of the street in which the lawyer's house stood, accompanied by a more rapid firing than ever, while we could distinctly hear the bullets whizzing along the street. There was now no longer any doubt on our minds, and each one, seizing his hat or cap, made a rush down-stairs with the intention of retreating to the seaside; there, if possible, to secure a boat; or, if not, to swim off to the shipping for refuge. Many instances had lately occurred of vindictive Malays running amuck; that is to say, after having committed a murder, rendered callous by the certainty of death, and urged on by a thirst for blood, they arm themselves with a kreose, and rush up and down the streets, wounding every one who comes in their way, until they are either shot or arrested. Besides this, a month had barely elapsed since some Malay convicts, transported to Ceylon, had risen against the crew and massacred them in the most barbarous manner. With these facts in our memory, no wonder that we were alarmed, as we too All this time, it must be remembered, the people well knew that we had but little mercy to expect never ceased firing at the infuriated animal, who at their hands; while, from the circumstance of was snorting and roaring under the pain of not less their having arrived at this point of the island, it then twenty bullet-wounds, as I afterwards diswas evident that they must have traversed the covered. How I escaped being shot myself, or at military quarters, and consequently that they had least wounded, is even more wonderful than my in all probability massacred every European and outstripping the buffalo in swiftness. The same native soldier. There was yet the little fort with Almighty protecting Hand that had been so often the European artillery, and the shipping in the before, and has been so often since, stretched out roads, which, provided our supposition was correct, to defend me, shielded me on that occasion in so afforded the only chances of escape. We had every marked a manner from harm. Still I ran on, till hope of reaching shelter, however, as the assailants at last I missed the sound of the pursuer, and, were approaching from a contrary direction. Down glancing hastily over my shoulder, had the unwe rushed, therefore, half-a-dozen steps at a time; speakable satisfaction of beholding the buffalo passage and then the door were speedily cleared, | charging at an empty carriage which was standing

the

insurgents with the English troops at Lexington, on the 19th April, 1775.

pletely routed and destroyed the combined Spanish and French fleet. Did not these examples suffice, we might easily select other anniversaries from this month, showing that warlike powers eagerly made use of this season of the year as favourable for fighting.

With the month of May the number of revolutionanniversaries diminishes; but, as a set-off against this, battle-days begin to increase. The most significant time for battles is the latter half of June. On the 14th June, 1800, the bloody and decisive With the arrival of November battles seem to battle of Marengo was fought, which established become less frequent. On the other hand, this the ascendancy of France, and completely consoli-month has a significant celebrity from events in dated the power of Bonaparte. On the 14th June, which nations have been frustrated in their attempts 1807, the battle at Friedland took place, which to gain freedom, and their leaders have perished in displayed the lofty pitch of Napoleon's general- the conflict. On the 1st November, 1814, the Viship. On the 14th June, 1815, commenced the enna Congress was opened, in which the German series of engagements which issued in the complete representatives undid again all that their generals ruin of this great general. Here it is especially had effected in the battle-field. On the same day, worthy of remark, that the three decisive instances in 1837, the constitution of Hanover, which had coincide to the very day, and occur at nearly equal been granted in 1833, by patent, was annulled, and intervals. a beginning was made of a fresh constitution. The most significant days, however, are from the 7th to the 10th November. On the 7th November, 1823, Riego was executed in Madrid; and in that event every hope of freedom completely vanished for that year. On the 9th November, 1848, Robert Blum was shot in Vienna, and the minister Brandenburg appeared in the Prussian national assembly with the intention, first of proroguing, and subsequently of dissolving it. The 9th November is, also, the anniversary of the memorable 18th Brumaire, when general Bonaparte plucked off the last flowers of a freedom won with such costly sacrifices, and by means of a dictatorship made his way up to an imperial throne. On the 2nd December, it will be remembered that his nephew made his celebrated coup d'état. Thus we find, in the last months of the year, anniversaries of the overthrow of that liberty which in the spring, amid great hopes and efforts, was often won through torrents of blood.

The period from the 12th July to the 6th August is again more distinguished by the inner agitations and public deeds of nations. On the 12th July, 1806, the Rhenish Confederation, and with it the limit of the German territory, was ratified. On the same day, in 1848, the archduke John solemnly accepted the office which had been conferred upon him in the national assembly, and the last session of the German Diet commenced. On the 14th July, 1789, the Bastile was stormed in Paris. On the 23rd July, 1532, the first treaty for religious liberty in Germany was concluded. On the 27th July, 1794, the reign of terror under Robespierre was overthrown. On the same day, in 1830, the contest began in Paris which resulted in the banishment of Charles x.

Particularly significant comes forward the 6th August. On this day, in the year 1043, the treaty of Verdun was concluded, and the independence of Germany was established. On the same day, in 1804, the last German emperor laid down his crown; on this day also, in 1848, allegiance was paid to the regent of the Empire and Austria's victorious army entered Milan.

When the hottest season of the year is past, battle-days begin again to multiply; these, however, for the most part, crowd themselves into the latter half of October. This is the most abundant harvest-time for war, as immediately before the winter the movements of a fighting army become difficult. On the 14th October, 1066, the great victory of William the Conqueror was achieved, near Hastings, which decided the fate of England for ages. On the 14th October, 1756, the Saxon army of king Frederick II was forced to capitulate. On the same day, two years later, the same king was surprised and beaten by the Austrians at Hoch Kirch. On the same day, 48 years afterwards, the Prussian army was completely routed by Napoleon. On the 17th October, 1799, Napoleon returned from Egypt to Paris, to enter on his new career of victories. On the same day, 13 years later, in 1814, Napoleon set out on his fatal retreat from Moscow. On the same day, in 1805, the Austrian army laid down its arms at Ulm. On the 18th October, the great national conflict at Leipsic annihilated the power of France in Germany. On the 20th October, 1827, was fought the battle of Navarino, which destroyed the Turkish fleet; and on the 21st October, 1805, was the battle of Trafalgar, in which the English com

THE POWER OF EXAMPLE.

GIVE yourselves to prayer; be not ashamed of the exercise. Ashamed! Were an archangel to become incarnate, he would account it not only his bounden attempt not to conceal, the fact that you pray. It duty, but his highest honour, to pray. Conceal not, may be desirable, and is, in order to prevent distraction, to be quite alone; but if this cannot be, neglect not to bend your knee before your companions. You know not the influence such an act may have upon others. If the present lecturer has a right to consider himself a real Christian-if he has been of any service to his fellow-creatures, and has attained to any usefulness in the church of Christ, he owes it in the way of means and instrumentality to the sight of a companion, who slept in the same room with him, bending his knees in prayer on retiring to rest. That scene, so unostentatious and yet so unconcealed, roused my slumbering conscience, sent an arrow to my heart; for though I had been religiously educated, I had reconversion to God followed, and soon afterwards my strained prayer, and cast off the fear of God; my entrance upon college studies for the work of the ministry. Nearly half a century has rolled away since then, with all its multitudinous events; but that little chamber, that humble couch, that praying youth, are still present to my imagination, and will never be forgotten, even amidst the splendour of heaven and through the ages of eternity.-Rev. J. A. James's Lecture to Young Men.

Varieties.

Might not we end this anecdote with those simple words of Jesus, "Go, and do likewise ?"

AN ANECDOTE WITH A LESSON.-Two painters were moments he returned with tears of joy in his eyes. "Now, employed to fresco the walls of a magnificent cathedral; dear Rebecca,' he exclaimed, 'now I am ready.' He reboth stood on a rude scaffolding constructed for the pur-peated his prayer, and with gladness lighted the sabbath pose, some forty feet from the floor. One of them was so lamp. Then he related the dispute which had occurred in intent upon his work, that he became wholly absorbed, the morning, adding: 'I could not pray and light my and in admiration stood off from the picture, gazing at it lamp before becoming reconciled with my brother Isaac.' with intense delight. Forgetting where he was, he moved 'But how did you manage to do it so soon?' 'Oh,' he back slowly, surveying critically the work of his pencil, replied, Isaac had been as much troubled as I was; he until he had neared the edge of the plank upon which could not begin the sabbath either, without becoming he stood. At this critical moment his companion turned reconciled with me. So we met in the street; he was suddenly, and, almost frozen with horror, beheld his immi- coming to me, and I was going to him; and we ran into nent peril; another instant, and the enthusiast would each other's arms, and wept.' be precipitated upon the pavement beneath. If he spoke to him, it was certain death; if he held his peace, death was equally sure. Suddenly he regained his presence of mind, and seizing a wet brush, flung it against the wall, spattering the beautiful picture with unsightly blotches of colouring. The painter flew forward, and turned upon his friend with fierce upbraidings; but startled at his ghastly face, he listened to his recital of danger, looked shuddering over the dread space below, and with tears of gratitude blessed the hand that saved him. Just so, we sometimes get absorbed upon the pictures of the world, and, in contemplating them, step backwards, unconscious of our peril, when the Almighty, in mercy, dashes out the beautiful images, and draws us, at the time we are complaining of his dealings, into his outstretched arms of compassion and love.

RECOVERY FROM SCEPTICISM.-Dr. Ashbel Green, of Philadelphia, has recorded, in his account of his early life, that when a young man, he fell under irreligious influences among officers of the army, and at length became a scep tic. But his mind was not at rest. He read the leading works on the evidences of Christianity, and found that he could not withstand the argument, but even his intellect seemed to need something further. He says:"To the Bible itself I determined to make a final appeal. My Christian education had already rendered me in a degree familiar with a large portion of its contents; but on this I resolved to place no dependence. I took up the New Testament as if I had never opened it before; and with the single object of looking out for the signatures of Divinely-inspired truth; and I prayed, as well as half an infidel could pray, that God, in whose existence and attri. butes I believed, would help me to form a just opinion of the truth or fallacy of that book. Proceeding in this way, I had not gone through the four Evangelists when all my scepticism left me, and to this hour it has never returned. My mind, indeed, has sometimes been harassed with almost every species of infidel, and even atheistic, suggestions; but I have, at the very time of their occurrence, been thoroughly convinced that they were false and groundless." It would be well if those troubled with sceptical doubts were to treat them in the manner that was done in this instance. The word of God, if honestly studied, with prayer for enlightenment, is its own best witness.

LEARN TO FORGIVE. -The Jews sometimes display lofty principles, which show that the Divine light still lingers among them, although frequently concealed by the old incrustations of Rabbinical institutions. "In my own family," says a writer, "an interesting and characteristic incident occurred. My worthy grandfather was a man of great sensibility and of a warm heart, but easily excited to wrath. He had a brother whom he dearly loved. One day they fell into a dispute, and each returned to his home in anger. This happened on a Friday. As the evening drew near, my good grandmother, who was another Martha, full of activity, began to make preparation for the sabbath day. Come, dear Joseph,' she exclaimed, 'the night is approaching; come and light the sabbath lamp! But he, full of sadness and anguish, continued walking up and down in the room. His good wife spoke again in anxiety: 'See, the stars are already shining in the firmament of the Lord, and our sabbath lamp is not yet lighted.' Then my grandfather took his hat and cane, and, evidently much troubled, hastened out of the house. But in a few

LET US DO GOOD while we HAVE OPPORTUNITY.— If a peach-stone is planted in the ground, in any part of Australia where some supply of moisture is obtained, there will be a tree laden with fruit in three or four years, with out any kind of culture. Bushrangers have thus planted the stones; birds have dropped them; and removed, in some measure, the reproach of barrenness from the wild land. In grateful remembrance of the refreshment thus met with in his wanderings, and for the benefit of future travellers, and also the aborigines, the unwearied explorer, Allan Cunningham, always carried about with him, in his expeditions, a bag of peach-stones, which he carefully planted in the sterile wilderness. "I was much struck with this circumstance," justly remarks a relator of it, "and while I could not help commending, from my very heart, the pure and disinterested benevolence it evinced, I could not help inwardly regarding it as a lesson for myself in the future, and a reproof for the past. Alas! how many spots have we all passed unheeded in the wilderness of life, in which we might easily have sown good seed if we had so chosen, and left it to the blessing of God, the dew of heaven, and the native energies of the soil! Such spots we may never revisit; and the opportunity of doing good, which was thus afforded us, but which was suffered to pass unimproved, will consequently never return."

WITH HANDS AND FEET.-The last days of Andreae, the eminent and pious chancellor of Tubingen in the sixteenth century, were occupied in writing a book to expose the pernicious doctrines and maxims of the Jesuits. It is in the form of a dialogue. He seemed while writing it to be under a strange and inexpressible pressure of spirit. He told his friends that his thoughts came so rapidly, he wanted to write with hands and feet at once to put them down. Some one, he said, seemed to stand by his side, and urge him forward, saying, Press on, make haste! He completed the work in a fortnight, and the same day on which he finished it was taken ill with the sickness of which he died a few days afterwards. Does not some one stand by your side and mine continually, saying, Press on, make haste?" Whatsoever thine hand findeth to do, do it with thy might!"

LINES written by the Rev. John Berridge, and pasted on his study clock:

"Here my master bids me stand

And tell the time with either hand:
What is his will, is my delight,
To tell the hours by day or night;
Master, be wise, and learn of me

To serve thy God as I serve thee."

A WELL-KNOWN EPIGRAM.-The family motto on Dr. Doddridge's coat of arms was, Dum vivimus, vivamus, the literal translation of which is, "While we live, let us live." The direction thus given was beautifully versified by the doctor in the following lines:

"Live while you live,' the epicure would say,
'And seize the pleasures of the present day.
'Live while you live,' the sacred preacher cries,
'And give to God each moment as it flies.'
Lord, in my view let both united be,

I live in pleasure when I live to thee."