called Patmos.' It may be more easily
imagined than described with what in-
terest we gazed on those lonely shores
which once listened to the voices, and on
those silent mountain tops which were
once bright with the visions of heaven!
Patmos, or, as it is now called, Patino,
has a population of 6000 souls. It has
several churches and schools. On the
highest point of the island there is a
monastery called the Monastery of St.
John, which has a library of a thousand
volumes, of which nearly two hundred
The inhabitants
are in manuscript.
belong to the Greek Church. St. John
is the favourite saint of the Levantine
sailors; and many a journey is taken to,
and many a bead is told before, and many
an offering hung upon, and, from the deck
of the ship, many a look is cast, in the
calm and in the storm, towards that
island-shrine."

MOSLEM DEVOTION.

is an occasional touch of humour, and always good and pleasant humour. With no lack of classical and historical reference, there are, as might naturally be expected from such a writer, frequent scriptural allusions and illustrations; and withal there is a pure spirit and a pious tone pervading the book, which entitle it to high recommendation at our hands. From lands so trodden, and scenes so frequently described, little of novelty is to be expected, at least from a casual and transitory visitor. But the interest of these wonderful regions is inexhaustible. Jordan and the Nile, Sinai and Zion, Tabor and Hermon, Bethlehem and Jerusalem, are old familiar names, which call up to our remembrance old familiar friends; to which, as to the scenes of our childhood, we can never cease to be fondly attached. "Our attention was this day drawn to These sacred scenes are illumined in our a Mohammedan, who was saying his imagination with the brilliant light of the prayers on the deck! Spreading beneath East, and peopled with the traditions of him his segadeh, or prayer carpet, he put his hands on his knees, and turning his the remotest antiquity. They are asso-face towards Mecca, he kneeled down ciated with the lapse of centuries, and with a large portion of the world's history;-they are the birthplace of events of infinite consequence to the destinies of our race, and the effects of which will yet fill the world, and endure throughout eternity. He must be a dull traveller who could go "from Dan to Beersheba," with a soul unmoved, and a pen unenlivened, and whose page, when he recorded his genuine thoughts and feelings, awakened no sympathetic glow in the breast of his reader. Such is not our present author. From the commencement to the close we have accompanied him in his ramblings with much interest and pleasure, and not without profit. His narrative ought to be in every parish library, and universally in the hands of the young of our congregations. We cannot refrain from expressing our cordial wish, that when he next puts on his sandals, and sets out on his "wanderings," it may not be in quest of health.

As specimens of our author's prose manner we subjoin the following:

GLIMPSE OF PATMOS.

"At nine o'clock on the morning of the 15th, we were passing the isle that is

and three times kissed the deck. He then engaged in prayer for a few minutes, and went through the same form again. This he did for more than half-an-hour, during which he kept his eyes open. It had perhaps been better that they had been shut; for, while thus engaged, a dog continued to gambol about him, which more than once, and highly enraged, he drove away with blows and curses, and returned to his prayers again."

WADY MOKATTEB, OR WRITTEN VALLEY.

"Here we pitched our tents for the night, and here we saw those famous inscriptions which have given the wady its name, and which have created so deep an interest, not only in the passing pilgrim, but the Christian world. What first arrests attention in these singular inscriptions, is their multitude, variety, the height at which many of them are written, and, compared with the beautiful and finished specimens of Egyptian art we had just seen, the rude and unskilful way in which they are executed. Besides characters or letters, the rocks in the wady, and of a neighbouring mountain, called Jebel Mokatteb, the Written Mountain, are covered with figures of men and various animals. 'Men,' to use the graphic words of Professor Beer, are drawn standing, in motion; lifting the hands to heaven, looking

down; sitting on camels, on horses, on mules, leading camels; armed with spears, swords, shields; fighting, drawing the bow, hunting, &c.'

"Surveying these strange inscriptions, every other consideration is soon displaced by that of their origin, date, authorship, and meaning. On this there have been various opinions. Cosmas, a merchant of Alexandria, who, in A.D. 535, was the first to make them known to the world, was of opinion they were the work of the Israelites. This opinion was adopted by Bishop Clogher, who was the first to direct the attention of the English public to the subject, and who, in 1753, offered the sum of five hundred pounds to the traveller who should copy them. Whether the reward was ever claimed we cannot say. Some years after several of them were copied by Pococke and Niebuhr. It was the opinion of Professor Beer of Leipsic that they were the work of Christian pilgrims of the early ages. Lepsius, seeing the improbability, not to say the impossibility, of these being the work of pilgrims, who could not be supposed to have either the time or the means with which to execute them, while agreeing with Professor Beer as to their Christian origin, ascribes them, with as great unlikelihood, to a Christian pastoral people, living and supporting their flocks in those regions.

.....

... . The meaning of the inscriptions was thus, like their authorship, unknown. In a work lately published, however, entitled, "The Voice of Israel from the Rocks of Sinai,' the Rev. Charles Forster, an English clergyman, has professed to discover both. The opinion of Cosmas,' he says, 'so long and so unjustly contemned, is after all the right and true judgment, namely, that the Sinaitic inscriptions were the work of the ancient Israelites, during their forty years' wanderings in the wilderness.' How has he, is it asked, arrived at this conclusion? How has he made this discovery? After shewing the untenableness of Professor Beer's hypothesis, he proceeds to shew that they were the work of the Israelites. 'First, from their being the work of a single age or generation. Second, from their numbers, extent, and position; their numbers being computed by thousands, their extent by miles, and their position above the valleys being as often measureable by fathoms as by feet, some being twenty, and some as high as a hundred feet. Third, from the physical Character of the peninsula of Sinai. To execute these monuments, ladders and platforms, or ropes and baskets, the appliances of a fixed and settled population,

were indispensable. But no people ever could have fixed and settled there, unless provided with daily supplies of food and water in some extraordinary way. Now the only people, in the history of the world, answering to this description, was God's people, Israel, after their exode out of Egypt.' Having applied the Egyptian alphabet to the Sinaitic inscriptions, what was the result? The result was, that in nearly forty inscriptions he has discovered records of the principal events of the Exodus; such as the passage of the Red Sea, and the destruction of Pharaoh and his host; the healing of the waters of Marah; the smiting of the rock in Horeb; the murmurings and the miracle at Meribah; the battle of Rephidim, in which Moses is drawn with uplifted hands; the plague of the fiery serpents; and the miracle of. the quails or feathered fowls. . . Supposing it were or could be shewn that these are the actual records on the rocks of Sinai, and strange as it may seem if they are, it would almost seem stranger if they are not, what, it may be asked, is their value? It is not said, and not for a moment supposed, that they were written by divine appointment or inspiration. Yet, though forming no part of, and adding nothing to, the contents of Scripture, they would have their place and value, if they only added, as, if real, they must, to its credentials. Some have thought it not improbable that Job may have known of these inscriptions. Be this as it may, they served to remind us of his words, which we did not fail to read that night in the Written Valley: 'Oh! that my words were now written :-oh! that they were printed in a book!-that they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever!""

JERUSALEM.

"There was but one city in the world for which I would have passed Bethlehem; one city of greater note in this world's history. To see it we had crossed the sea, and the desert, and had come from a distant land; and for it were willing to leave for the present unvisited, even Bethlehem itself. One long deep gaze at the city of David and of David's Lord, at the fields in which the shepherds were watching their flocks by night, at the bright blue air where the angel of the Lord appeared, and the glory of the Lord shone, and the multitude of the heavenly hosts sang, Glory to God in the highest, peace on earth, and good will to men,' and we hasten on. Near this, on the left, is the spot where Rachel

6

A LAY FOR THE JOURNEY OF LIFE. "And when Abram was ninety years old and nipe, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him. I am the Almighty," or All-sufficient God-(in the Hebrew, El Shaddai :) walk before me, and be thou perfect."-Gen. xvii. 1.

died and was buried, when there was, order, and to a destination far nobler and but a little way to come to Ephrath, better, than Palestine and Jerusalem, which is Bethlehem.' A small white to which the following pencilling refers. cupola marks the lowly and lonely grave of the beautiful and the beloved one. We We have pleasure in transferring it to stay not even at the tomb of Rachel. our columns, commending it to our Now we have reached the convent of readers, with the fervent hope and Mar Elias, and the Fountain of the Star, prayer that, in "The Journey of Life," where the star is said to have reappeared they may, one and all, choose “El Shadto the wise men, and now, joy! joy! our dreams are realized, our longings are dai as their strength and song:"gratified, there is Jerusalem! Halting for awhile to gaze on its distant walls, and to indulge our emotions, we rode forward, exulting that our feet should stand within its gate' that day. From the Fountain of the Star, where it is first seen, Jerusalem is nearly three miles distant. The country on this side of it is open, but bare, and on the right hand bleak and desolate. Hilly on the right, it declines on the left into an extensive, and what, in former times, was no doubt a beautiful and fertile valley. Now there is neither tree nor fence to diversify the scene, nor on either side of the road for three miles is there a single habitation. From the inclination to the east of the plateau on which it stands, in approaching Jerusalem from this direction, little is seen but its walls. These, however, are strong, high, and fair, and even from the Bethlehem road give it an imposing appearance.

"Next to Jerusalem, the objects which at this distance first strike the eye, are the mountains round about it.' Among these one is more prominent than the rest, and is partially wooded. It is the Mount of Olives. We have now passed the valley of Rephaim, or the Giants, and now we have reached the ridge of the rock that forms the brow of the valley of Gihon. Right opposite is Mount Zion. A glance at the valley of Hinnom, deepening and darkening far below, and we descend the ridge; and ascending the hill of Zion, we enter the Bethlehem, or Jaffa gate, and are within the walls of Jerusalem!"

There are wanderings of a far higher

The wilderness is long and drear,
And I must go, whate'er betide;
But with the thought my heart I cheer,-*
El Shaddai is my Guide.

The tempter's shafts fly thick around.
And, wounded, many quit the field.
From danger free I keep my ground-
El Shaddai is my Shield.

My wants are great, yet lack I nought,-
Around my tent the mauna lies;
And all things good, if only sought,
El Shaddai rich supplies.

Burdened with sin. I journey slow,
And fear that I shall faint at length;
But I revive as on I go,-

El Shaddai is my strength.

Cuilty and frail, I'm full of fears,
For grace is weak corruption strong;
But I can smile amid my tears,-

El Shaddai is my song.

My eyes have lost their youthful glow,
To me the day grows dark as night;
Yet I in cloudless sunshine go,

El Shaddai is my light.

On Death's dark stream I trembling stand,
With sullen wail its waters roar;
But safe I'll reach the eternal land,-
El Shaddai went before.

To yonder gates of light on high,
Oh! how dare I my footsteps bend!
Fear not," some angel whispers nigh,
"El Shaddai is thy Friend."

SUBSOIL PLOUGHING OF THE SOUL.

In the spiritual, as well as the rural world of discipline, the subsoil ploughing is effectual and thorough. In the mind and heart there is never any danger of going too deep; the planting of the soul is to be the very interpenetration of its whole being with the power of truth. It is a baptism, a transfiguration, a new

creation of the whole, as well as a growth from it. The truth becomes its life, its habit, a part and possession of its nature. The instinctive search of plants for nourishment, the busy, joyous activity and reach of the roots, in generous and softened soils, is but a type of the earnestness and profoundness with which the

trath runs through the well-disciplined and softened mind, and takes possession of it. This is especially the case with the realities of the spiritual world into which the soul enters, as in its destined, native, spontaneous alliance, its elemental relationship and home.

We are here tracing an eminently practical analogy. Few persons, not practically versed in agriculture, have any idea of the great depth to which the roots of plants, even from small seeds, will descend in favourable situations. The fibrils of a wheat kernel have been found more than thirty inches below the surface; those of red clover, Indian corn, and the Swedish turnip, five feet; and of sainfoin and lucerne, from twenty to thirty feet. And long after they have become invisible to the naked eye, they can be detected by the microscope, pushing themselves into the heart of the earth for nourishment. It is the constant effort of the good gardener to facilitate this wonderful operation of nature, and so he digs and trenches the soil to the depth of two or three feet, and finds himself repaid by a most luxuriant vegetation.

After the same manner, the roots of the seed of the divine Word, where the soil is turned up deep, and made tender and moist, hide themselves away, far beyond sight, in the depths of the sanctified soul, till they get so rooted, that all the powers of earth and hell cannot pluck them up; neither can any drought wither them; but in light from heaven above, they grow like a great tree planted by the river-side, always bearing fruit in its season. That is the effect of subsoil ploughing in the soul; God's eye follows the microscopic roots, and His Spirit goes with them, and ministers nourishment and power. There is a gentle and free circulation of air around them, and it is absorbed by the earth, and treasured up for the growing plant. Moreover, this subsoiling secures a thorough draining of the soil, in cases where the land happens to be wet and marshy, as is sometimes the case with the neglected soul.

substratum is naturally so hard, or becomes such, that it receives the expressive name of an iron pan. In the habits of the mind, in the hardness and indifferences of perverted sensibilities, and in cherished obstinacies of prejudice or opinion, how often is just such a substratum of character formed and perpetuated!

Has it never happened to us to observe just such hard-soiled Christians, with the whole character destitute of heavenly tenderness and spirituality, and the heart and conscience very much hardened and insensible? This is the effect of careless surface-ploughing in the spring, subsoiling being neglected. The skimming system always produces such characters; there is that iron pan at the bottom. Out of that grow hard speeches, severe and censorious judgments, a bitter, faultfinding spirit, stupidity of heart, a tough conscience, self-delusion, a sectarian disposition, formalism, neglect of prayer, and all kinds of spiritual weeds, instead of the gentleness, prayerfulness, humility, and love of the Gospel.-Cheever.

SOWING BY THE RAIL-SIDE.

As I was standing waiting at station one day last autumn with a young lady, a benevolent looking old gentleman came up to her, and taking her hand, and looking up earnestly into her face, he said, "Well, my dear Miss Jane, what good have you done since I saw you last, within the last fortnight ?-just think, my dear, and tell me." I cannot tell you the good and solemn effect this remark seemed to have on those who, like ourselves, were waiting about, and within hearing. It was so well done. My dear young friend's bright face coloured all over with diffidence and emotion; so I came to her relief, and said, "She has been sharing my labours, and helping to bear my burdens, sir. I feel she has been doing good."-" Ah! I thought so," said he kindly. Her remark was,"Indeed, I think enjoying this lovely weather has been a great part of my emThere is, in opposition to all this, a ployment."-" Well, my dear," said he, careless, surface kind of ploughing in"if you have been enjoying it to give husbandry, very aptly called the skimming you strength and spirits to serve God, system; and this skimming system, in- you could not be better employed." stead of the subsoiling, is, alas! most "A word in season, how good is it!" generally that which prevails in spirit-"A word fitly spoken,” (as this was,) "is ual things in the husbandry of the soul! like apples of gold in pictures of silver." The consequence of this careless surfaceploughing of the land is just this: the pressure of the soil, and the treading of the team and driver form at the bottom of the furrow a hard crust, which is with difficulty penetrated by the delicate fibres at the end of the roots. Sometimes this

Truly, I can say, and I trust many another bystander could say likewise, that the golden harvest going on at that moment in the fields around us, seemed brightened and silvered over with heavenly rays shed by these words "fitly spoken."

H. L.

"THEY THAT WAIT UPON THE LORD SHALL, then, made it so effectual? It was the

Missionary Intelligence.

STATISTICS OF MISSIONS IN INDIA AND CEYLON.

At the commencement of the year 1852, there were labouring throughout India

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