of a superior kind. An extreme cleanliness, a purity of atmosphere, and a general propriety and style pervade the place and its arrangements. The splendid equipages that set down company, and the rich liveries of the footmen in waiting, sufficiently set forth that the place is visited by many of high condition. Groups of well-dressed ladies are attended by men of rank and fortune. The lofty bearing and gentle demeanour that oftentimes agreeably blend in high life may be seen, as well as the elegance, the ease, and the ennui of those, who living in luxurious leisure, partake, listlessly, of gratifications which set the eyes of others sparkling, and their pulses beating with pleasure.

The model summer houses, the retail china shop, as seen in the streets of Canton, and the silk mercer's shop, attract much attention, bringing before us, as they do, the manners and customs of the people; while the infinity of screens, lanterns, vases, jars, lamps, porcelain vessels, reckoning boards, fruit stands, flower baskets, lacquered boxes, incense vessels, garden pots, fans, and fifty other kinds of articles, demand, by their profusion, more than one visit from the spectator.

The China ware, carved boats and figures, embroidered articles, dresses, silks, caps, shoes, musical instruments, minerals, shells, cutlery, castings, necklaces, specimens of ornithology, fish, insects, implements, books, and paintings, seem hardly to have an end. While the knowledge that every article, on which the eye rests, is of Chinese workmanship, greatly increases the interest felt by the spectator.

"The

The Chinese are even more celebrated than the Hindoos, the Arabs, and Persians, for their aphorisms, maxims, and excellent sayings; and Confucius is called "The instructor of ten thousand ages;" and his precepts are spoken of as glory of ancient and modern times." I have already said that the room abounds with Chinese inscriptions: the signification of a few of the most striking of these is as follows:

"As the scream of the eagle is heard when she has passed over, so a man's name remains after his death." "Though a tree be a thousand chang (a chang is ten Chinese cubits, each fourteen and a half inches) in height, its leaves must

nence; pursuing vice is like rushing down a precipice." "Man perishes in the pursuit of wealth, as a bird meets with destruction in search of food." "The cure of ignorance is study, as meat is that of hunger." Unsullied poverty is always happy; while impure wealth brings with it many sorrows." Petty distinctions are injurious to rectitude; quibbling words violate right reason.' "Those who respect themselves, will be honourable; but he who thinks lightly of himself, will be held cheap by the world."

Many Chinese maxims bear a strong resemblance to the proverbs of Solomon, as will be seen in the following instances: "Virtue is the surest road to longevity but vice meets with an early doom.' "The fear of the Lord prolongeth days: but the years of the wicked shall be shortened," Prov. x. 27.

"Unsullied poverty is always happy; while impure wealth brings with it many sorrows. "Treasures of wickedness profit nothing: but righteousness delivereth from death," Prov. x. 2.

"The heart is the fountain of life." "Out of it [the heart] are the issues of life," Prov. iv. 23.

"Honours come by diligence: riches spring from economy." "The hand of the diligent shall bear rule: but the slothful shall be under tribute," Prov. xii. 24.

"If you love your son, give him plenty of the cudgel: if you hate your son, cram him with dainties.' "He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes," Prov. xii.; 24.

"The slow horse is fated to receive the lash: the worthless man will ultimately get his deserts." "A whip for the horse, a bridle for the ass, and a rod for the fool's back," Prov. xxvi. 3.

"A virtuous woman is a source of honour to her husband: a vicious one causes him disgrace." "A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband: but she that maketh ashamed is as rottenness in his bones," Prov. xii. 4.

"When mandarins are pure, the people are happy." "When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn," Prov. xxix. 2.

The following may be added, "Every blade of grass has its share of the dews of heaven; and though the birds of the

forest have no garners, the wide world is all before them. This may remind the reader of the far more beautiful words of our Saviour: "Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them," Matt. vi. 26.

Among many other objects that particularly strike my attention, are the imposing idols, reminding one of the golden image set up by Nebuchadnezzar. The superb screen of ornamented silk, paintings of magnificent flowers, and rich and tasteful gildings. The costly cabinet from Soo-chow, a beautiful production of art; several specimens of carved bamboo roots, wild, uncouth, and hideous, but wonderously imposing. The ancient yellow vase, with the raised green dragon, a mythological emblem of the great dragon_attempting to swallow the moon. Two figures in papier mâchée, representing priests of Fuh (priests, indeed! most people would call them "jovial old boys!") A splendid cameo, given to Mr. Dunn, the proprietor of the collection, by Hou- | qua, the Hong merchant. A large ornamental blue vase, and an elegant porcelain bowl of enormous size. These, and the carved and gilt chair of state, the elegantly chased silver tankards; the elaborately carved ivory model of a Chinese junk, and the light, airy, beautiful lanterns, superbly painted, and admirably ornamented and gilt, will most likely give as much pleasure to others as they have imparted to me.

The Chinese have not yet been manufacturers of clocks and watches, but they import both articles to a considerable amount from Europe. When a Chinese gentleman is asked why he carries two watches, one on each side his girdle, which is a customary thing in China, his reply is, that "if one should be sick, the other will be able to walk."

Were. I to remain here a whole day, fresh objects would attract me. Since making the remarks above, I have noticed the model of a Chinese coffin, Chinese books, an ancient mirror, a mariner's compass, the needle pointing to the south. A Chinese merchant's sign, hung at the doorpost, or interior of his shop; model of a bridge at Fathon, near Canton; pillows used in summer; two flower jars, whose surfaces have the appearance of being covered with cracks, very curious; and two porcelain landmarks: each of these is either novel, or has something attractive in its workmanship. The lands

An examination of the paintings, view of Canton, representation of the feast of lanterns, view of Whampoa reach and village, a funeral procession, painting of a marriage ceremony, view of Honan, picture of Macao, and others, will do something towards leaving a more favourable impression, with regard to Chinese artists, than that which is generally entertained.

And now, if you wish to spend a few hours pleasantly, to correct some prejudices, and to add much to your knowledge of the Chinese people, of their dress, manners, customs, ingenuity, and works of art, from a mandarin of the first class, to the blind mendicant, in his patched habiliments; if leisure serves, and no duty prevents you; if you have half-acrown to spare for admission, and an additional eighteen-pence or two shillings withal, for a printed description of the curiosities of the place, you can hardly do better than to step into an omnibus, with a heart in love with humanity, and a spirit delighting in forbearance, and pay a visit to the Chinese Collection.

A WORD TO HEARERS.

A MAN that comes hungry to his meal, feeds heartily on the meat set before him, not regarding the metal or form of the platter, wherein it is served; who, afterwards, when his stomach is satisfied, begins to play with the dish, or to read sentences on his trencher. Those auditors who can find nothing to do, but note elegant words and phrases, or rhetorical colours, or perhaps an ill grace of gesture in a pithy and material speech, argue themselves full ere they come to the feast; and, therefore, go away with little pleasure, and no profit. In hearing others, my only intention shall be to feed my mind with solid matter; if my ear can get aught by the way, I will not grudge it, but I will not intend it.-Bishop Hall.

THE SILK WORM.*

"THE same wisdom," says Bonnet, "which has constructed and arranged, with so much art, the various organs of animals, and has made them concur towards one determined end, has also provided that the different operations, which are the natural results of the economy of the animal, should concur towards the same end. The creature is directed towards his object by an invisible hand: he executes with precision, and by one effort, those works which we so much admire; he appears to act as if he reasoned, to return to his labour at the proper time, to change his scheme in case of need. But in all he only obeys the secret influence that drives him on. He is but an instrument which cannot judge of each action, but is trained up by that adorable Intelligence which has traced out for every insect its proper labours, as he has traced the orbit of every planet. When, therefore, I see an insect working at the construction of a nest, or a cocoon, I am imFrom the History of Insects, published by the

Religious Tract Society.

pressed with reverence, because it seems to me that I am looking at a spectacle where the Supreme Artist is hid behind the curtain."

The feelings of this eminent naturalist may properly be ours, as we remember that silk is spun by a caterpillar, which feeds on the leaves of the mulberry tree : it is called the silk-worm; it comes from eggs laid by a kind of greyish moth in the autumn of the preceding year. They are about as large as a grain of mustardseed, at first of a yellow colour, but afterwards of a bluish hue.

In May the eggs are hatched, and produce small black caterpillars, less than the tenth of an inch in length; these daily increase in size, and gradually alter their colour until they become nearly white. In about eight days, the head grows larger, and the creature is seized with its first sickness, when its size increases; and in the course of a month, its weight is multiplied many thousandfold. It then throws off its whole covering, not only that of the body, but of the feet, of the entire skull, and even of the

mandibles, or jaws, which process may be seen by the unassisted eye, but of course more clearly through a magnifying glass. It is again attacked by sickness, after which it moults again; and when this has been repeated for the fourth time, the caterpillar is about one and a half or two inches long. It devours its food most voraciously, and during ten days, increases rapidly in size. Its whole form is now remarkable.

Goldsmiths, or gold wire drawers, have iron plates, pierced with holes of different sizes, and they draw gold and silver wire first through the larger, and then through the smaller, according as it is required to be fine. Now the silkworm has under her mouth just such an instrument, having a pair of holes, which are united in one on the outside. This is connected with the part that provides the silk, and which is formed of two long floating twisted tubes, growing slender towards the head of the insect, where they unite to form the spinneret which renders the silk. The length of these vessels depends on the quantity of silk wanted by the insect; those of the silkworm are about ten inches long, while those of the larva of the goat moth are little more than three inches.

The silk worm fixes the first drop of gum that issues from these vessels, through the holes just mentioned, where she pleases, and then draws back her head, or lets herself fall, while the gum, continuing to flow, is drawn out and lengthened. On being exposed to the air, it immediately becomes dry and acquires consistence and strength. And most wonderful is it that she is never deceived in adjusting these openings, or in calculating the proper thickness of the thread, but always makes its strength proportionable to the weight of her body. The thread varies considerably in colour and texture, and sometimes resembles cotton or wool. In spiders it is much more soft and tender than that of other spinning insects. The outer part of the cocoon or ball it spins, is formed of a rough silk-like substance, called floss; inside this is a thread more even and distinct, and then the apartment of the chrysalis, or aurelia, which lodges here, seems lined with a substance of the hardness of paper, but much stronger; while the third, which composes the cocoon, is not rolled regularly round, but lies very unevenly upon it, and winds off first from one side and then from the other.

In this country, the caterpillar takes fifty-six days to arrive at perfection, during which time it always sheds its skin as many as four, and occasionally five times; the cause of this additional change is not known. After every change, the caterpillar is lighter in colour, and has a larger head than previous to the change; it spins during five or six days, making about sixty-two days. In warmer climates it arrives at its full growth in forty-seven days, and has finished spinning in five more.

When the caterpillar is about to change its skin, it ceases to eat, holds its head up, and appears ill and sulky; the new head is plainly to be discovered through the transparent skin, behind the old one, and rather of the shape of a triangle. After remaining in this state two or three days, the skin opens behind the head, which cracks lengthwise, and is cast with the skin; the caterpillar then twists itself from side to side, and writhes about, while the skin gradually slips from its body, and comes off at the tail.

One author thus writes: "There is scarcely any thing among the various wonders which the animal creation affords, more admirable than the variety of changes which the silkworm undergoes; but the curious texture of that silken covering with which it surrounds itself, when it arrives at the perfection of its animal life, vastly surpasses what is made by other animals of this class. All the caterpillar kind do, indeed, undergo changes like those of the silkworm, and the beauty of them in their butterfly state greatly exceeds it; but the covering which they put on before this change into a fly is poor and mean, when compared to that golden tissue, in which the silkworm wraps itself. They, indeed, come forth in a variety of colours, their wings be-dropped with gold and scarlet, yet are they but the beings of a summer's day; both their life and beauty quickly vanish, and they leave no remembrance after them; but the silkworm leaves behind it such beautiful, such beneficial monuments, as at once to record both the wisdom of its Creator, and his bounty to man.

In this case the words of Cowper are also verified :

"The beams of April, ere it goes,
A worm, scarce visible, disclose;
All winter long content to dwell
The tenant of his native shell.
The same prolific season gives
The sustenance by which he lives,

The mulberry leaf, a simple store,
That serves him-till he needs no more!
For, his dimensions once complete,
Thenceforth none ever sees him eat;
Though till his growing time be past,
Scarce ever is he seen to fast.
That hour arrived his work begins;

He spins and weaves, and weaves and spins;
Till circle upon circle, wound

Careless around him and around,
Conceals him with a veil, though slight,
Impervious to the keenest sight.
Thus self-enclosed as in a cask,
At length he finishes his task;

And, though a worm when he was lost,
Or caterpillar at the most,

When next we see him, wings he wears,
And in papilio pomp appears;
Becomes oviparous; supplies
With future worms and future flies
The next-ensuing year-and dies!
Well were it for the world, if all
Who creep about this earthly ball,
Though shorter lived than most he be,
Were useful in their kind as he."

"DO YOU MEAN WHAT YOU SAY?" "Had I ten thousand thousand tongues, Not one should silent be; Had I ten thousand thousand hearts, I'd give them all to Thee."

THESE words were sung by a numerous congregation, and the two closing lines repeated with peculiar sweetness and animation. There was only one thing wanting to complete the feelings of delight awakened, and this was, a well-grounded confidence that, in every instance, the melody of the heart accompanied that of the voice; and that the sentiments so sweetly sung were not those of poetry merely, but those of heartfelt sincerity and devotion.

And is it really so? did the whole congregation mean what they said? would every one give "ten thousand hearts" to Christ the Lord? Here is the test; does each give Him one?

Young woman, you whose voice was heard so powerfully, yet so sweetly, is your heart given to Christ? What means, then, the finery of your dress, your wandering glances, your trifling behaviour, under the announcement of his love and claims? Do they not rather intimate, that you have given it to vanity, and love of admiration and display? Yes, and the sad conclusion is confirmed by your conduct on leaving the house of prayer. How you press to join some giddy companion; and as you pass along, the levity of your manner, and your unseasonable laugh, indicate the frivolous strain of your conversation. It is not about Jesus and his love for you; it is not such as would express or encourage, or confirm

your love to him. No; yours is not the conduct or the conversation of one who can sincerely say

"Had I ten thousand thousand hearts,

I'd give them all to thee!"

And why, at the next service, do we miss the voice of that young man whose mellow tones enriched and combined the harmony of the preceding one? Why is not that voice heard mingling in the mild devotional strain so well adapted to the words

"My dear Redeemer, and my Lord,

I read my duty in thy word;
But in thy life the law appears,
Drawn out in living characters.

Such was thy truth, and such thy zeal,
Such deference to thy Father's will;
Such love, and meekness so divine,

I would transcribe, and make them mine."

All those who have really given their hearts to Christ, long to be conformed to his image. Why, then, does not every voice, that has professed such ardent desires to give him the perpetual homage of ten thousand thousand tongues, and the surrender of ten thousand thousand hearts, join in supplicating the impartation of his Spirit, the foretaste of heaven, where we shall be completely like him, and see him as he is? Alas! there has been a strife among the singers, who should be the greatest; they have disagreed about bringing forward a favourite tune the decision has fallen out contrary to the wishes of the young man; and see, he has taken his seat at a distance from the rest; and, while the singing proceeds, he maintains a stubborn silence, as if he were dumb. How unlike the spirit of Christ! and how sad an indication, that his former delightful exercise was not to the praise and glory of God, but to his own! that it was mere mockery for one to talk of giving ten thousand thousand hearts to Christ, who would not give up a little point of honour; and that there was a great deal of humility to be learned and practised, before he could learn the very first notes of the song of heaven. There is no striving for precedency there, but all the glory is given to God and to the Lamb.

And there were some who joined in that profession of ardent love and entire consecration to the Saviour, of whom, in the course of the ensuing week, it was said, "They will not be in the singing gallery next sabbath!" Why not? "Because they have so much work to do, they will be obliged to work all day."