Under the afflictions which the believer has to cope with in the world, and these are numerous and of various kinds, he has precious support. God never leaves nor forsakes him, but places underneath and round about him his everlasting arms. Thus he bears him up and bears him through. He may expect to be preserved and delivered.

God will not suffer him to be injured. "When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee, and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee. When thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee." Is. xliii., 2.

See Daniel, the three Hebrew confessors, and the various martyrs, all of whom witnessed a good confession; though their bodies were destroyed, their souls were pres rved and purified. But the believer may not only expect preservation, but deliverance. God will deliver him from all his trials and all his enemies. Not unfrequently he works deliverance for him here. When all things seem to make against him, and he sees no way of escape, then does the Almighty stretch forth His hand and appear for him. This was the case with Abraham when about to offer Isaac; with Jacob, when he went to meet Esau; and when Joseph was taken from him: with the Israelites, with the Red Sea before them, and Pharoah and his host in the rear; with David many and many a time; and has it not been the case with you, dear reader, how often have you been beset round about with difficulties, and you saw no way of escape, yet deliverance has come, and come too in a way you least expected it?

The believer may expect to be made conqueror over all enemies, obstacles and opposition.

God will never leave his work till he has done all he has engaged to do. He has engaged that his people shall tread down their enemies under their feet, shall be more than conquerors through him, Learn then to trust in God and walk in all his commands. Be concerned to realize the work of the Holy Spirit in your hearts, working in you to will and do of his good pleasure. Conclude not you have the Holy Spirit unless He thus works in you; rest not till you have this. "He will give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him." Ask earnestly, diligently, believingly, expecting you will receive, and you shall receive; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." THETA.

THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA AND THE TEMPLE AT POOREE, FOR THE LAST TIME.

As the recent Car Festival is the first which the Missionaries have attended since the severance of the connexion between the Government of the land and this detestable shrine, the present seems a fitting occasion for placing on record, for the information of the friends of the Mission, the final arrangement adopted. On this subject some official papers were published in February last, by order of the House of Commons, entitled East India (Missionaries)—East India (Idolatry). To those who have studied the subject, and are familiar with its various phases, these papers will be very interesting, but to others they must be very dry. As I despair of

making a lengthened statement interesting to the general reader, I shall endeavour to be brief; but it seems necessary to advert to previous legislation.

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In 1840 the Pilgrim tax was abolished. This was seven years after the orders were sent from England; they were sent when Lord Grey was Premier, and Charles Grant (Lord Glenelg) was President of the Board of Control. His despatch was a very able and excellent one; but Lord Auckland, who was Governor-General in 1840, passed the Act very reluctantly; and, it is said, that, not long before, he angrily protested that he would not part with so much revenue to please the saints." However, though "the saints" do not, as yet, " judge the world," they have a great deal of power over those who do, and their enemies often have to lick the dust. So, in this case, the Governor-General found the saints" too strong for him; he was obliged to abolish the tax, not only at Pooree, but at Gya and Allahabad; but, after all, he had his revenge on them. He appointed that 60,000 rupees (£6,000) should be paid year by year from the Treasury to the Manager of this hateful temple. This arrangement occasioned most of the difficulty in which the question has since been involved. Lord Auckland is gone into the presence of the Judge of all the earth, and neither human praise nor human censure can at all affect him; but I cannot forget that he was one of those who claimed from the Government, not only "protection for the native religions," for this we should all with certain limitations admit; it must be he contended "honest and efficient protection;" in other words, the sanction, support and authority of the ruling Powers must be given to the vilest abominations of devil worship. He spoke of the management of the temple which has occasioned more obscenity, suffering, and death, than any other idol shrine "as a trust for the benefit of the Hindoo cominunity! Let me add that the hateful tax, abolished in 1840, was imposed in 1806, when Sir George Barlow (who forbade the servants of Christ to preach to the heathen) was GovernorGeneral. It is only an act of justice further to state, that the imposition of the tax was opposed to the wishes of the then Court of Directors. To the Board of Control, half-a-century ago, attaches the disgrace of sanctioning this iniquitous tax. The honorable Court urged that "the exercise of the authority of the Government should extend only to objects falling directly within the province of the Magistrate," but they were overruled.

The second step in relation to Juggernaut was taken in 1343, when the Sataees Hazaree estate was restored, by order of the Court of Directors, to the temple. It was the only landed property belonging to Juggernaut, and its annual value was about 24,000 rupees. This reduced the annual money.. payment to the temple to 35,738 rupees; and the revenue officers of Government no longer collected the rents for the idol and its priests.

The third change was made in 1845, when the annual payment to Juggernaut was reduced by 12,437 rupees. It was found, on a strict investigation, that at the period of the British conquest of Orissa, the total revenue of the temple from its own property was 23,321 rupees, and to this amount the annual grant was cut down. This arrangement continued in force till the final one was adopted. It was most objectionable because it openly identified the Government with the temple, and was so understood by all the people. It is also clear from the Parliamentary papers that between 1840 and 1845, the Superintendent of the Temple received more than

62,000 rupees, beyond what was his due, and I think he might have been justly required to refund this amount.

Was the Government honourably bound in finally settling the matter to give compensation for the aforesaid sum of 23,321 rupees? This question has occasioned much discussion. Most of us formerly answered it in the negative, but I must say that the evidence furnished in these papers, that the temple had a right to compensation to that amount is very strong, and cannot, I think, be fairly answered. For one, I am not ashamed to avow a change of opinion, when fuller information that justifies it is furnished, nor need any one. The Ex-Governor-General himself believed for

a considerable time that it was a free grant, and was most desirous that it should be "wholly and for ever" discontinued. Lord Dalhousie appears to considerable advantage in these papers as a Christian governor. His language is more like that of an earnest Missionary than a cool and cautious Statesman. In his minute of 11th April, 1851, he says—

"There remains now only the money grant. I am most strongly of opinion that that grant should now be withdrawn. I think that we should make no further grants to Juggernaut, that we should leave to the shrine the lands of which it is possessed; that we should abstain from all interference, directly or indirectly, with its offerings or fees; and should thus dissolve, wholly and for ever, all connexion between the British Government and this chief engine of a hideous superstition." He further declared his opinion to be that it was "greatly to be lamented that any considerations of policy should have induced the Government of the day to identify itself so far with native religious institutions; that it was more to be regretted that the connexion was not entirely dissolved when it was partially severed some years ago, and that no considerations, either of established practice or of supposed policy, should induce us to prolong the present system for a moment longer.' It is refreshing to find the chief authority in the State expressing himself on such a subject in so manly and Christian a manner. When the orders of the "Honourable Court" to "Our Governor-General in Council," directing that compensation to the amount of the aforementioned sum of 23,321 rupees should be paid on the withdrawal of the annual payment, they occasioned him much perplexity. It appeared to him that "to execute the orders of the Court would be not to withdraw support from Juggernaut, but permanently to endow it.” And he adds" I felt that, personally, I could not consent to execute the orders which the Court had enjoined, and that if they were insisted upon, it would be necessary for me to retire from the office which I have the honour to hold." Before recording this resolution, however, he wisely resolved to carefully re-examine the whole question. He also solicited Mr. Secretary Grant to analyse closely and accurately the voluminous proceedings upon this long controverted question. He might, I think, have selected a wiser counsellor; for though Mr. John Peter Grant (now in the supreme Council) is doubtless an able servant of the Goverument, few will attach importance to his opinions on a question involving moral and religious bearings. His paper, however, is a long and elaborate one, and, though open to objection on one or two points, it would not be easy to refute the main argument. The Governor-General was convinced, after an anxious re-examination of the question, that he had been under "an erroneous impression," as to the nature of the annual payment made to the temple by the Government, and adds "my mind has

been satisfied by the papers that the disbursement in question is not of the nature of a grant or donation, as I believed it to be, but of the nature of a compensation made to the temple for property which belonged to it, but which has passed into the hands of the Government, and is now enjoyed by it."

The basis, therefore, of the recent arrangement is, that the Rajah of Khoordah, as Superintendent of the Temple, was entitled to compensation in land of the annual value of 23,321 rupees; but owing to his " culpable neglect" in taking measures for the protection of pilgrims, 6,804 rupees are deducted from this amount, and devoted to the maintenance of an efficient police establishment. A fair sum is allowed for the collection of the rents of the estate given to the Rajah; and the probable losses from inundation are also brought into account; the average remission under this item during the last ten years, being regarded as a fair test. It is satisfactory to add that before giving the estate to the Rajah, a settlement of it was made for twenty years; so that, for that period, at least, he will have no right to demand or exact any increased rent, nor can he oust any of the tenants so long as the rent is paid according to engagement. No doubt this arrangement will be very annoying to the Rajah, who is exceedingly avaricious; but to the tenants on the estate it is an important boon.

I advert, with pleasure, to another circumstance in the final adjustment of the question. The Collector of Pooree suggested that on "the occurrence of a singularly calamitous season," inquiries might be made into the losses occasioned by inundation; but to this suggestion a decided objection was very properly taken by the Commissioner of Cuttack; and the deed as prepared by him, states that "no inquiry will hereafter be made by any of the officers of Government under any circumstances whatever, regarding alleged injury to the crops, or to the land by drought, inundation, or other cause." This is important, because, if the suggestion of the Collector had been acted upon, our interference in the endowments of the Temple would, in reality, never have terminated. The last paragraph of the deed is important: “And it is hereby declared that from the time of the transfer of the said lands, the Government have no further connexion, direct or indirect, with the affairs of the Temple of Juggernaut, its management, revenues, or otherwise; that the Rajah of Khoordah, in his capacity of Superintendent, is solely responsible for the due application of its revenues, and the due administration of its affairs." And thus the matter ends.

Another word in conclusion. It is more than thirty years since our Missionaries first raised their voices against the Government being connected with Juggernaut; and it would be unpardonable in me to forget that, in this department, Brother Peggs "laboured more abundantly than all " his brethren; nor did he, and those associated with him, labour in vain. Such questions are now better understood than at any former period, and the unhallowed practices of former days can never be renewed. No doubt a few bigots, chiefly of a former generation, still remain; but, though some of them sit in the high places of the land, they are as powerless to prevent the spread of right principles as they are to stop the sun in his course, or to prevent the tides of the ocean. "Their folly shall be manifest unto all men." Let it be our care to sow good seed, to diffuse just and scriptural sentiments, and whether we live to gather the fruit or not, that fruit is certain to be gathered. "In due season we shall reap, if we faint not." JOHN BUCKLEY.

THE LIGHT OF OTHER DAYS.

It is impossible for a thoughtful person to contemplate departed life, greatness, beauty, joy, or moral worth, without emotions of regret. Indeed, even the most inconsiderate must experience a slight and momentary sadness, as scenes of decay and desolation spread themselves before him.

Look at this season of the year. Enter your gardens. Many of the gayest and sweetest flowers are dead. Their beauty no longer pleases the eye, neither does their fragrance perfume the air. Yonder forest is fast becoming leafless. The verdant foliage which a month or two ago adorned it, is now strewn in decaying heaps on the ground. Every moment as you stand and look on the scene, another "sear and yellow leaf" falls with a rustling sound at your feet, preaching most forcibly the solemn truth that we all do fade as the leaf." The mornings and evenings have grown chill. The sky has lost much of its brightness. The warmth of the sun has decreased. The long, long hours in which the light of the departed day lingered in the western heavens almost until that of the day approaching streaked with tender rays the eastern sky, and the echoes of the nightingale's vespers scarcely ceased before the matin song of the lark was heard-these summer hours are gone. And who does not, as he remembers their brightness and beauty-the pleasant strolls through the wood, or along the river's bank, or over moor and mountain-who does not sigh for the faded "Light of other days?"

How pensively the traveller must walk among such ruins as those of Nineveh, Palmyra, Pompeii, or old Rome! Around him are splintered columns; or broken arches; or relics of power and pomp; or the representatives of social hilarity and domestic joys; or grassy mounds, where once gardens bloomed and trees were laden with all precious fruits He hears only the bark of the fox or the bittern's cry, where ages ago the voice of human melody blended with the notes of the lute and of the lyre. He remembers what history records of the mighty dead who once dwelt there— who on that very spot (now so desolate) pursued the business and pleasures of the world, fought life's battles and buffeted life's storms-who were there born, married and given in marriage, and there died. He reads the vanity of all human greatness-the mutation of all earthly things, in the ruins which surround him, by " The Light of other days."

How affecting it is to the man who studies the world's history and delights in promoting the progress of the race, to witness a nation in its decline and fall! Passing by the older empires of the world, such as the Egyptian and Assyrian-the Babylonian, Persian, and Macedonian, look at Greece and Rome: or on a smaller scale Portugal and Spain. They present, now, the utter mockery of kingly power-a perfect caricature of national rule. They are scarcely counted among the kingdoms of modern Europe. Who can remember that once Greece was the chosen home of literature and arts-had her philosophers and her schools-and could proudly boast of her intellectual superiority over all other countries, and now hear her name never mentioned but with contempt; who can remember that once the Roman legions spread themselves over the known world and were everywhere victorious, and see the Pontiff of the Papal States maintained and guarded on his throne by foreign arms; who can remember that once Portugal and Spain were flourishing kingdoms-rich in commerce-enterprising