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A HERO OF THE CROSS.

inquiry was more cheerfully urged. A second smile went round my happy group; yet all continued silent a few moments, when two or three voices exclaimed, Dirroomum kasi ammal, dirroomum kasi; that is, "Charity-money, lady, charity-money." “I should much like the history of this dirroomum kasi." Again all were silent. The Teacher then spoke, and informed me that these young disciples sometimes asked her to purchase them one opper less than their usual allowance for breakfast, that she might have a contribution from them for the poor. It was their rule to give the money to the Rev. John Phillips, Native Mis sionary, to distribute to the needy. Thus, unknown to me, a voluntary fund existed in my own school for blessing those who hungered. This was a heart-cheering surprise, and memory recalls it with pleasure.

I thought I had little to say about the beggar. My thoughts have gathered as they roamed, and I must detain you a few moments longer.

You must not conclude this figure is a fair representation of Indian paupers. You see her apparel is ample, clean, and neat: she really looks a respectable, pleasing old woman, and is one of a class not frequently met with in those regions. Beggars in general are filthy in their person and in their garments, which are very scanty to be covered from the waist to the knees is very decent many are less attired. To have little clothing is not discreditable; but to be entirely destitute of ornaments is very disgraceful. A string of glass beads, or even a cord without any beads, must be round the neck.

The baskets on the head are two or three in number, fitting one into the other. They are made of palmyra-leaf, and in them are deposited the different kinds of food collected in the day's tour. You may imagine paddy in one, raw rice in the second, and curry-stuff in a third. The baskets on the arm are of a similar kind in them the less weighty gatherings are carried.

A HERO OF THE CROSS.

THE LATE REV. JAMES HORNE.

(Continued from page 28.)

WE need hardly say that Mr. Horne was a liberal man. A whole-hearted Christian like him could not be otherwise. There are two sorts of professors who have never anything to spare.

A HERO OF THE CROSS..

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Those who are called by one of our old quaint Preachers "the come after followers of Christ," who come so long after, that they never catch a reviving glance of his love-inspiring eye, never enter the secret place of the Most High, never lean, with the loving and beloved John, on the Master's bosom ; but mix in the crowd, follow in his train, and call themselves by his name. And those who try to give one hand to Christ and another to the world. With such the world has always the first place. "Ye cannot serve God and Mammon." We must have a new sofa ;

but we can give more to the Missions another time. Mrs. cannot do without that lovely trimming for her cloak; but these ragged boys, why, she will not forget them: no, indeed, she will see to them when? To neither of these classes did our dear friend belong. Jesus was his all in all. He was 66 set as a seal upon his heart, as a seal upon his hand." He walked and talked with him as his dearest friend; and "the kingdom of God first," was the motto of his every-day life. I can remember many remarks of his on this subject. One day, when something was wanted for Christ's cause, and a question was raised as to the prudence of so much being given, he settled the matter by saying, in his usual hearty way, "If our Lord has need of it, by all means he shall have it." And when he saw anything like halfheartedness in giving, he would say, “The firstlings of the flock, and the fat thereof." "The first, the best, the fattest, not the torn and the lame, mind." Children brought up at home are like looking-glasses, in which parents may, at any hour of the day, see their own image. Their spirit, their tempers, their principles, are all exhibited in these truthful mirrors; and it is with deep interest that I recall two incidents which showed the genial influences which formed the characters of Mr. Horne's children.

One day, a woman came to the door with a basket of toys. Among other things she had some beautiful dolls, with wax busts, and fine curly hair. Such things are not so common in the West Indies as at home. They were newly imported from England, and brought a group of admirers round the woman wherever she went. Mr. Horne's two youngest daughters were so charmed, that a friend, who was on a visit to the family, bought one for the younger, and would have bought another for the elder of the two; but, with a sweet smile, and a blush, she presented her Missionary box, saying, "I would rather have it in there, please."

At another time, when some bright new Victoria coins were issued, each of the children had been presented with a piece of

46 WHAT YOU WILL SEE IF YOU GO TO FEEJEE.

silver, to use as they thought fit. A council was held among themselves, and it was agreed that they were too beautiful for anything but the Missionary collection. They were accordingly put up till then.

"I will not bring to Jesus

What I might cast away;
The first, the best, the fairest,
I'll on his altar lay.

My young heart's first emotions

Of love, and joy, and praise,
My earliest devotions,

My childhood's brightest days."
(To be continued.)

WHAT YOU WILL SEE IF YOU GO TO FEEJEE.*

REALIZE, if you can, its sunny clime, and its crowded population,-between three and four thousand. There now you may see the turbaned heads, the flowing girdles of the Chiefs, the bare bodies of the multitude. The ladies with a dress five inches wide, the men almost more nude. The houses large and spacious, with no partitions, no upper rooms; built very irregularly, and crowded together. There is no burial-place, save the royal mausoleum. The dead are buried under the earthen floors of the houses. Yonder are the three market-places, each answering the treble purpose of the exchange, the assembly room, and the human slaughter-house. There, towering over and above all other buildings, are the thirty Heathen temples, beautifully ornamented with the white cowrie shells. Ascending the hill called "the top of the town," you will be offended by the filthy deposits there found, and you will wonder that so many of the city fashionables are so fond of dancing there for so many hours.

Occupying an elevated post of observation, you note the wood and water carriers, poor women who have to propel their canoes for a distance of more than a mile, fill their pitchers, gather wood, collect leaves for culinary purposes, return to the city, and carry their loads to their several homes :-the vegetable dealers, crowds of the enslaved, heavily burdened with yams, taro, bananas,

Taken from "Vah-ta-ah, the Life of a Feejeean Princess," a book which we recommend to our readers.

HOW A ROYAL INFANT IS NURSED IN FEEJEE.

47

sugar cane, native bread, &c., coming to deposit their cargo with those who rarely pay, and scarcely thank them. It was thus that Vah-ta-ah's parents were supplied with daily food.

And now the drums beat pat, pat, pat, pat, pat! What is that? It is a sound intended to convey the intelligence that a man's body is being cut up, and prepared for food, as is a bullock in our own country. See the commotion! The majority of the population, old and young, run to gaze upon the intended victim. He is stripped naked, struck down with the club, his body ignominiously dashed against a stone in front of a temple, and then the body is cut up and divided amongst a chosen few, ere the vital spark is extinct.* Sometimes he is dashed into an oven whilst yet alive, and half frizzled. The little children run off with the head, and play with it as you would with a cricket-ball. Some fond mother, anxious for the preservation of her child's health, begs for a morsel of the flesh to rub against the lips of her little one.

HOW A ROYAL INFANT IS NURSED IN FEEJEE.

IT was about the year 1820 when it was announced to Thauthau, a member of the royal family, that another daughter had entered his domestic circle. Vah-ta-ah, the name given to the little Princess, was carefully nursed night and day in the arms of the lady attendants for the space of ten days, as is customary; at the expiration of which she was gently laid on the bed for the first time since her birth, and was permitted to sleep free from the officious attentions of the court sycophants.

A day or two after she first saw the light, the ladies of the city paid their respects to the little stranger, bringing various presents of beautifully wrought mats, fashionable native prints, tasty fans, scented oils, odorous woods, &c. In the course of a few days her father would probably, as a matter of etiquette, look at her beautiful features, only regretting that she was not of the bolder sex.

When a wet-nurse is wanted, a Chief will destroy some infant, and command its mother to suckle his own child. But it does not appear that any innocent baby was murdered in order that Vah-ta-ah might have more nourishment.

*This has happened when the writer himself has been in Bau.

ARE THE NATIVES OF HEATHEN COUNTRIES ANY THE BETTER FOR HAVING THE MISSIONARIES LIVING WITH THEM?

I WILL answer this question, by telling you what Mr. Tindall says about the people at Lily Fountain, in South Africa. Mr. Tindall is a Missionary, and the son of a Missionary. He was born in Africa, and has lived there all his life.

"The natives of the Mission-stations have made considerable progress during the last few years. Many of them stand in high repute for their comparative intelligence and respectability. This is not only true of the half-castes, but also of those who are purely Namaqua. The Mission-station of Lily Fountain may be regarded as affording an encouraging example. Only a few years ago it was occupied by a poor and ignorant people; but now they are both comparatively enlightened and enriched. They possess large numbers of waggons, horses, and cattle. They have built and purchased several cottages. They cultivate almost all the corn-land which their grounds contain, or which can be spared from the pasturage. They have built a handsome and spacious church, at a cost of nearly one thousand pounds. They have laid out good roads over their mountain-ranges and passes, in the face of many difficulties, and at considerable expense. Several of them have acquired a practical knowledge of useful trades. They are respectably clad in European clothing. The Dutch language has entirely superseded their mother-tongue, and that in its turn is being gradually supplanted by the English. Their services are very valuable to the adjacent farmers, many of whom greatly envy their prosperity.

LONDON: PRINTED BY JAMES NICHOLS, HOXTON-SQUARE.

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