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A STRAY SHEEP BROUGHT TO THE FOLD

The Chinese are without any distinct idea of a self-existent God; and, as the consequence of this, they live under the superstitious dread of finite spirits, or demons of various kinds, whose name may be called Legion, for they are innumerable. Just in proportion as man departs from God, he comes under the direful bondage of superstition and of sin. Hence the various means adopted, as in China, to secure the good offices of these unseen agents, in which the Buddhist priests are continually employed. They issue small books called "Girdle Classics," containing prayers addressed to the particular god under whose protection the individual has placed himself, like the prayers in Roman missals to guardian angels or patron saints. Spells are made in great variety; some, like the scapulars of the Romanists, to be worn on the person; others, to be pasted up in the house, or to be burnt, and the ashes to be thrown into a liquid for sick persons to drink. In shops, the word "shin," under which term all objects of fear and worship are included, is set in a shrine, and incense placed before it. The points of resemblance between this system and Romanism are singular. Monasteries and nunneries are common to both. The Chinese nun, her head being shaved, must seclude herself from the world, and, occupying herself in mortification and devotion, look forward, as her final destination, to being swallowed up in nihility. We shall take occasion, from time to time, to show some of the features of resemblance between Buddhism and Romanism.

A STRAY SHEEP BROUGHT TO THE FOLD OF THE GOOD

SHEPHERD.

Ir were a great mistake to suppose that the duty of making known the gospel belonged to ministers alone, and that Christian laymen had nothing to do with the souls of others. The truth is far otherwise. Every one who names the name of Christ ought to be a burning and shining light, enlightened himself, and giving light to others: and he who, because uninfluenced himself, is without the power of exercising Christian influence on others, is guilty in a two-fold sense-as regards his own soul, which he is seeking to destroy, and the souls of others, to whom he might have been a blessing. "Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost its savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men."

We do not mean that every man is to become a preacher, leaving his proper calling; but we do mean that every one should be careful to have his "speech alway with grace, seasoned with salt," and wise to improve those opportunities of doing good to others which in the way of daily intercourse are presented to him. There are times and occasions, moreover, when the Christian layman, if God has given him the power so to do, may, with all propriety, preach the gospel. When, for instance, he is in the midst of a heathen land, surrounded by multitudes of poor sinners, perishing "for lack of knowledge," and to speak of Christ to whom there are none, or very few-and, indeed, at all times, and in all places, where

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the gospel might be preached, and there are those who are willing to hear, and yet, unless a layman does it, it cannot be done at all-it is his duty and privilege to make it known. The gospel is what man needs. All else can be done without, but this is indispensable.

And it is remarkable how God blesses faithful efforts of this kind, done in simplicity of spirit, and to the glory of His name. Of this we are enabled to present the following interesting proof.

A Mahommedan, belonging to one of the mountain tribes on the borders of the valley of Kashmir, set out on his pilgrimage to Mecca. All false religions have their holy places, whether Romanism, or Mahommedanism, or the various shades of heathenism; and pilgrimages to these places are supposed to be specially meritorious, and available to the forgiveness of sins. The gracious Saviour has pointed out a different mode of worship-"God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth." The Mahommedan looks to Mecca when he prays. The Christian looks to Christ, by whom alone there is " access to the Father." The deluded follower of some false faith journeys to a distant shrine, and when he has reached it, after much painfulness and weariness, he is as far from God as he was before. The enlightened believer, remaining in his sphere of duty, weans his affections from earthly things, and, seeking those which are above, confesses himself, in this sense, 66 a stranger and a pilgrim on the earth."

Happily for this poor wanderer, he was arrested on his way. He had reached as far as Peshawur, when, in the bazaar of that town, he heard an European preaching to the people. He drew near and listened: his attention was gained. The European was speaking of Christ, the only Saviour, and inviting sinners to come to Him that they might be saved. The same Spirit who opened the heart of Lydia, "that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul," brought the word home to the heart of this man. He did not pursue his journey to Mecca: there was something else which now occupied his mind. He followed the European, an English officer, Col. W, to his quarters. There he remained twenty days, inquiring and seeking. There was one thing, and one thing only, which could now satisfy him-to know more of Jesus. At the end of that time he desired to be baptized, and Col. W—— recommended him to go in search of a Missionary. Alas! Missionaries in that country are as few and far between as wells in a desert. He travelled the long journey from Peshawur, northward of the Punjab, along the course of the Indus, until at length he reached Karachí, near the mouth of that river. Six months he had been on his way. He had fallen sick, and had been robbed. But he found what he wanted, for at Karachi we have two Missionaries, and from them we have received the account of him which has been given. They say of him-" He is such a simple, prayerful, zealous person-he loves and reads his Bible so much-and indeed so approves himself in every Christian virtue that he is a bright specimen of what the grace of God can effect. He has been so anxious to spread the truth, that he has actually shamed us to go out into the bazaar and other places of Karachi. We had been waiting, in our worldly wisdom, until we should be perfect in the Hindustani and Sindhi; but he, by his ardent entreaties, and by his example-for he went out himself-so stirred up our consciences that we durst remain

quiet no longer." Truly "he that winneth souls is wise." Cannot you, reader, do something to commend Christ and His great salvation to those around you?

"WITHHOLD NOT GOOD FROM THEM TO WHOM IT IS DUE, WHEN IT IS IN THE POWER OF THINE HAND TO DO IT. SAY NOT UNTO THY NEIGHBOUR, GO, AND COME AGAIN, AND TO-MORROW I WILL GIVE; WHEN THOU HAST IT BY THEE." PROV. iii. 27, 28.

IN the "Church Missionary Record" for the present month, amongst the list of benefactions will be found this acknowledgment" Friend, 1007." The circumstances under which this donation was bestowed on the great work of Christian Missions to the heathen, as related in the following letter from a clerical member of the Society in Norfolk, present an apposite illustration of the above text

I have this day ordered my bankers to pay to you, as one of the Secretaries of the Church Missionary Society, the sum of 1007. As the way in which this sum for our Society came into my hands is somewhat curious, I will mention it, as it may be of use. I was calling upon an aged yeoman farmer of my neighbourhood, and, the conversation turning on Missionary work, he stated to me that he had never heard or read much of the subject until a day or two before, when, in opening a packet of children's books which he had received from the Tract Society, he had found one on Missionary stories. He had been much struck with them, and said he was sorry he had not done something during his long lifeeighty-three years-for so great and glorious a work; and he then said, "You are much occupied in furthering this cause, and if you will kindly take charge of 1001. I will give it to you to bestow where you think it will be most useful; but I do not wish my name to transpire, only to be entered as 'A friend to the cause."" He said, "Will you take it now?" I answered, "There is a good text for us all to bear in mind-Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might,' &c." He sat down, drew a cheque on his bankers for the amount, and said I was right. A week afterwards the old gentleman was called to his account. I thought how good a lesson it teaches to the youngest and the strongest among us. Truly it does convey a lesson, and an important one. Is there good which you might do to your neighbour, if you were so disposed? Oh! undoubtedly. The word "neighbour" is of comprehensive signification. Not only those who are near us, but those who are far from us; not only our relatives, our friends, our countrymen, those of the same colour and complexion with ourselves, but man, wherever or under whatever aspect he is to be found. Can you not help in some way? for there are multitudes at home and abroad who stand in need of help, and who are craving it at our hands. The rich could help. Dr. Duff, at the Anniversary Meeting of the Baptist Missionary Society in May last, brought this duty forward in a very striking way. He had been speaking of the Himalaya mountains, and the manner in which a Christian's enjoy

ment of the magnificent scenes they present is interfered with by the recollection that no less than seventy millions of India's population regard these mountains as the palaces of their chief gods, and look up to them with idolatrous and superstitious awe. He then proceeded in the following forcible language

Let me say, that, unless we go to their rescue, and that speedily, the time will come when those myriads of people, instead of looking up to these everlasting hills for their help, as they do now, will be mournfully constrained to cry to these rocks and mountains to fall upon them, and hide them from the face of the Lamb. Surely, then, it becomes the imperative duty of all Christian people to come up at once " to the help of the Lord against the mighty" in this land.

But I have been requested to speak chiefly about money. Of all the cities on the face of the earth, London is the chief for moneymaking; and if so, ought we not to expect the streams to flow most copiously out of it? Let the great merchant princes of London look up yonder to those Himalayan mountains, and therefrom learn a lesson. During half the year those Himalayan ranges gather all to themselves, and part with none: they accumulate around and upon their broad sides and illimitable summits huge masses of ice and snow, and seem to look down upon the plain below with an air and aspect of stern selfish grandeur. But when the glorious summer sun breaks forth, and throws its powerful beams upon these mountains, the frozen masses begin to melt, and down the waters come in many streams, the confluence of which swells the waters of the Ganges, and spreads fertility and verdure through a vastly-extended region of country some fifteen hundred miles, supporting the bodies and gladdening the hearts of seventy millions of human beings. Merchant princes of London, take a lesson from the Himalayan mountains! You see these men frequently gathering up masses of money, mountains of treasure, and keeping it all to themselves like misers. Not like the miser we read of in the newspapers the other day, who had lived in the most abject state of filth and wretchedness, and, when dying, requested his friends to bury him in the clothes and hat that he had worn through life. But when his life was gone, they bethought he might have had some reason for his request, and therefore resolved to make diligent search; and, upon doing so, they found his wretched garments and old hat lined with bank notes, in all amounting to nearly a thousand pounds. He loved money so well that he wanted to take it into the grave with him. This is not the spirit of our merchant princes; but they gather up money-there are some glorious exceptions, and I thank God for it-merely to expend it selfishly upon themselves or their families, and do not give that which they ought to the cause of the gospel.

And can the poor do nothing? Oh, much, very much, even in the way of pecuniary contribution. One poor man cannot give as much as one rich man; but there are a great many more poor than there are rich. The many pennies of the rich man's pounds do not so much exceed the few which the poor man is able to bestow, as the poor exceed in number the wealthier portion of their brethren. Thus, the smallness of the individual contribution may be made up

by the greater number of contributors, and the weekly pence of the many would equal, if not exceed, the larger gifts and donations of the rich. What will our friends say when we tell them, that, on the four articles of spirits, beer, tobacco, and snuff, the working-classes of the United Kingdom expend no less than fifty-seven millions and upwards? What might not be done if we were indeed a nation fearing God and working righteousness? At the present moment the united annual income of twelve of our largest Societies for the promotion of the gospel of Christ at home and abroad is less than one million. How many the working man who spends on noxious and useless things-spirits and tobacco-what, if given to the advancement of God's truth, would help others and himself too!

The following notice, from a Westmoreland paper of February last, of an earnest friend of the cause of Christ and of her fellow sinners, in the humbler walks of life, comes in appropriately

On the 29th inst. died Agnes Mitchell, aged 73. She was the daughter of the late John Mitchell, a cabinet-maker, and lived for the last forty-one years in the family of Isaac Braithwaite, Esq., as cook and housekeeper. Although treated with confidence, and almost intimacy, she was uniformly respectful, keeping her place with propriety. She was as careful of her master's interest as though the house had been her own, and never thought it a trouble to visit the poor, and to prepare things for their comfort. She was much attached to the ministry of the Rev. W. Whitelock during his residence at Kendal; and, as long as she was able, she was never absent from church: no weather kept her at home; and she fully carried out the views of her master and mistress in preparing every thing beforehand, to set herself at liberty for the duties of the Sabbath-day. She was a person of few words, and always approached religious subjects with reverence. She loved her Bible, and read it daily; and during her last illness she imparted, with much feeling, the consolation she derived from its contents. She showed that she was deeply versed in them, that, through the Holy Spirit, they had been indeed food to her soul; and she dwelt with peculiar comfort on the hopes of a glorious resurrection through her Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. She was respectable, yet frugal, in her dress; and her personal economy enabled her to be liberal to the poor during her life, and to save out of her wages, which were always moderate, a considerable sum of money; and with the hope that it may encourage others to put by part of their earnings, and to prove how much good such humble individuals may do with their means, we subjoin a list of the legacies bequeathed by Agnes Mitchell, in addition to those left to her relatives and friends"British and Foreign Bible Society, 197. 19s.; Church Missionary Society, 197. 198.; Society for Promoting Female Education in the East, 197. 19s.; the Sunday-schools in Kendal, established 1785, 197. 19s.; Religious-Tract Society, 101.; Church Pastoral-Aid Society, 107.; Irish Society of London, 107.; London Missionary Society, 51." Besides the above, a sum of 60%., left in trust, the interest of which is to be divided annually amongst eight poor women, residents in Kendal.