ble, save once in a quarter of a century, on the twenty-fifth of December, and then only with august solemnities, conducted by great dignitaries in a holy city. Conceive that it were now ten years since you, or I, or any other sinner, had been permitted to pray, and that fifteen years must drag themselves away before we could venture again to approach God, and that at the most we could not hope to pray more than two or three times in a lifetime-with what solicitude should we wait for the coming of that Holy Day! We should lay our plans of life, select our homes, choose our professions, form our friendships, with reference to a pilgrimage in that twenty-fifth year. We should reckon time by the openings of that Sacred Door as epochs. No other one thought would engross so much of our lives, or kindle our sensibilities so intensely as the thought of prayer. It would be of more significance to us than the thought of death is now. Fear would grow to horror, at the idea of dying before that year of Jubilee. No other question would give us such tremors of anxiety as these would excite :-"How many years now to the time of prayer? How many days? Shall we live to see it? Who can tell ?" Yet, on that great day, amidst an innumerable throng, in a courtly presence, within sight and hearing of stately rites, what would prayer be worth to us? Who would value it in the comparison with those still moments, that -"secret silence of the mind" in which we now can "find God," every day and every where? That day would be more like the day of judgment to us, than like the sweet minutes of converse with our Father," which we may now have every hour. We should appreciate this privilege of hourly prayer, if it were once taken from us. Should we not? "Still with thee, O my God, By day, by night, at home, abroad, With thee amid the crowd The Still Hour. THE LADY AND THE ROBBER. IN a large, lone house, situated in the south of England, there once lived a lady and her two maid-servants. They were far away from any human habitation, but they seemed to have felt no fear, and to have dwelt there peacefully and happily. It was the lady's custom to go round the house with her maids every evening, to see that all the windows and doors were properly secured. One night she had accompanied them as usual, and ascertained that all was safe. They left her in the passage, close to her room, and then went to their own, which was quite at the other side of the house. As the lady opened her door she distinctly saw a man underneath her bed. What could she do? Her servants were far away, and could not hear her if she screamed for help; and even if they had come to her assistance, those three weak women were no match for a desperate housebreaker. How, then, did the act? She trusted in God. Quietly she closed the door, and locked it on the inside, which she was always in the habit of doing. She then leisurely brushed her hair, and putting on her gown, she took her Bible and sat down to read. She read aloud, and chose a chapter which had special reference to God's watchfulness over us, and constant care of us by night and by day. When it was finished, she knelt and prayed at great length, still uttering her words aloud, particularly commending herself and servants to God's protection, and dwelling upon their utter helplessness and dependence upon him to preserve them from all dangers. At last she arose from her knees, put out her candle, and went to bed; but she did not sleep. After a few minutes she was conscious the man was standing by her bedside. He addressed her, and told her not to be alarmed. "I came here," said he, "to rob you; but after the words you have read, and the prayer you have uttered, no power on earth could induce me to hurt you, or touch a thing in your house. But you must remain perfectly quiet, and not attempt to interfere with me. I shall now give a signal to my companions, which they will understand, and then they will go away, and you may sleep in peace, for I give you my solemn word that no one shall harm you, and not the smallest thing belonging to you shall be disturbed." He then went to the window, opened it, and whistled softly. Returning to the lady's side, who had not spoken or moved, he said: "Now I am going. Your prayer has been heard, and no harm will befall you." He left the room, and soon all was quiet, and the lady fell asleep, still upheld by that calm and beautiful faith and trust. When the morning dawned and she awoke, we may feel sure that she poured out her thanksgivings and praise to Him who had "defended" her under "His wings," and "kept " her "safe under His feathers," so that she was not afraid of any terror by night. The man proved true to his word, and not a thing in her house was taken. Oh, shall we not hope that his heart was changed from that day forth, and that he forsook his evil courses, and cried to that Saviour "who came to seek and to save that which was lost;" and, even on the cross, did not reject the penitent thief! From this true story let us learn to put our whole trust and confidence in God. This lady's courage was indeed wonderful, but "the Lord was her defence upon her right hand," and with him all things were possible.-Monthly Packet for October. We have received an extract from a letter fully corroborating the remarkable anecdote of "The Lady and the Robber," in your October number, and adding some facts that enhance the wonder and mercy of her escape. We quote the words of the letter: "In the first place, the robber told her if she had given the slighest alarm and token of resistance, he was fully determined to murder her; so that it was really God's guidance that told her to follow the course she did. Then, before he went away, he said, 'I never heard such words before; I must have the book you read out of;' and carried off the Bible, willingly enough given, you may be sure. This happened many years ago, and only comparatively recently did the lady hear any more of him. She was attending a religious meeting in Yorkshire, where after several noted clergymen and others had spoken, a man arose stating that he was employed as one of the book-hawkers of the Society, and told the story of the midnight adventure as testimony to the wonderful power of the word of God. He concluded with, 'I am that man.' The lady arose from her seat in the hall, and said quietly, "It is all quite true; I am the lady,' and sat down again."-Monthly Packet for De cember. THE GUEST. a "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me."-REV. iii. 20. SPEECHLESS Sorrow sat with me; In the dark we heard a knock, "I am come to sup with thee!" All my room was dark and damp; Who art come to sup with me!" Opening wide the door, he came ; CHINA. Missions. Amoy dialect. With all your ideas founded on languages that are alphabetical, it is The following letter has been received hard for you to form any correct idea of from Mr. Burns, dated Foo-chow, Aug. 1st, 1861. DEAR SIR, A fortnight ago I wrote a note from this place to my mother, which I asked her to communicate to you. If this has been done, then you will have already heard of my return to this place from Swatow. The state of matters was such there that I had been thinking for a week or two of moving to some other station, and having found a favourable opportunity of coming direct to this place by the Algernon, Capt. Miller, I thought it my duty to come up. I had been detained at Swatow up to the time when I left by the new edition of Hymns which was being printed, but that work was happily near a completion. Mr. Smith occupied Yam-chow, Mr. Mackenzie Tat-how-po, and at Swatow proper. During the hot weather, and especially in the present state of feeling towards foreigners at that place, there was not enough work to occupy one to the best advantage. There was still, indeed, left the alternative of going into the country to some place hitherto unoccupied, but for this the season was unsuitable, and thus I was led to look in some other direction for employment during these summer months. The reasons that have brought me to Foo-chow are such as these, that I left this place with the full view of returning to it again should I find it in my power, and more especially I was anxious to get additions made to the Colloquial Hymns, formerly published here, and to get the whole printed in a more permanent form than that of mere hand-bills. I desire to thank the Lord that since coming here, with the aid of native brethren especially, I have made some progress towards the fulfilment of this object, a considerable number of the new Swatow hymns having been already pretty fairly adapted to the colloquial. It is singular that the persons speaking the language of this place cannot be at all understood either at Amoy or Swatow, yet the language when written contains very many of the same vocables, and these, in many cases, unknown to other parts of China; and again, the colloquial of this place, when put in writing, is much more like the Swatow than the Amoy; and consequently, it has been found much easier to adapt hymns in this dialect to the Swatow language, and vice versa, than to do the same with the this subject, but you may understand me when I say that the written characters here, whether local merely or in general use throughout the country, have all a fixed meaning, whatever the reading sound may be; and at Swatow and here a similar change will frequently take place in words that rhyme at the one place to that at the other place; so that the rhyme as well as the meaning will be preserved. When we pass to the Amoy dialect, either from the Swatow dialect or from this, then many more of the rhymes are destroyed, and the cast of expression in general is also more different. As in part accounting for this, I have found on inquiry that many of the Swatow, or Tie-chew people came originally from a district of country lying directly to the south of Foo-chow, and to the north of Amoy. We hear from Mr. Grant that he is finding an open door among the Chinese at Singapore. I have advised him while he retains his health, and finds encouragement, to be in no haste to leave that important and very much neglected field. The Island of Formosa is now also calling to be occupied. Had I not come up here I had thoughts of going there, but these thoughts are in the meantime laid aside. Since coming up here I have preached on three successive Sabbaths at the anchorage, and also on a week-day on board of the gun-boat now stationed here. I shall probably now, however, apply myself while here more exclusively to the work among the Chinese. Since last year all the Missions here have made progress in the way of adding to the number of their native Church members, but there is no spirit of awakening manifested as yet among the people generally. This people are "mad on their idols," and Foo-chow, as a city, is "wholly given to idolatry." In the surrounding country the American Wesleyan Mission is making some encouraging progress. occupy here is attached, as you may perhaps remember, to one of their chapels. I received a very kind welcome on my return, from all the missionaries, and I have the fullest opportunity among them of labouring at large to promote the interests of the cause of Christ here. We hear nothing more of Dr. De la Porte's coming out, so we are led to conclude that he has not succeeded in his plans. We hear encouraging accounts from Amoy, as to the pro The room I place near to which inquirers could be directed. I cannot tell you of the arm of Jehovah revealed as yet; though some souls do come to inquire, none have seemed to be permanently affected: but there is an open door, and you know there is no European missionary here to the Chinese. The Episcopalians employ some native catechists in the work. This place, once so largely supplied with the preaching of the word, is now left thus The following has been received from destitute. Perhaps 60,000 souls are living Mr. Alex. Grant, dated Singapore, August 22nd, 1861. on English ground, and very accessible compared with what I ever found in China, and yet they are left to perish without any European at least caring for their souls. There are many of God's people here who indeed care for them in one sense, mourning over and praying for them; still no one has entered into the field. I have asked the brethren at Amoy to consent to my remaining here for a time, at least until a place of worship is, through Divine help, fixed on, and more systematic preaching or other means set on a firmer footing. I think you will concur in this view of the matter. In this neighbourhood there is a great neglected field, and one which friends of the Gospel here say is promising. Meantime I would beg that this place be made the subject of prayer, to which we are so loudly called by the beginning God has made. to May it please Him to direct all according Very truly yours, ALEX. GRANT. Mr. Douglas, in a letter addressed I write in answer to your letter of May 10th, which was sent from Amoy to this and came to hand two mails ago. I did not immediately reply, because it seemed desirable to be able to inform you more about the state and prospects of the work here than could have been done then. There is much to thank God for in the work that has been done here, we trust by Himself, in bringing several into the fellowship of His Church. We have had an inquiry meeting every Thursday evening, examining those who sought admission. Out of five who desired baptism three were baptized by Mr. Mathison on the 4th instant, in the Scotch Church. Two of these at least manifest such a spirit as I have hardly ever seen in other places; we hope it is true joy in the Lord. They are Tie-chin people, that is, speaking the same dialect as is used at Swatow. The Christians keep the communion in Mr. Keasberry's chapel. He ministers in Malay, which a few of them have a smattering of, and, of course, it is much more for their benefit than English, of which they know nothing. Besides, in the Scotch to Mr. Barbour, and dated Amoy, 2nd Church here the communion is observed August, 1861, gives the following inonly twice a year, and the Chinese Christians have always kept it monthly. You will easily understand that very little communication can be carried on between English and Chinese here, and though Li Su has been much helped and taught of God in his difficult position, it seems hardly right to leave him in it longer. There seem also strong reasons for having the basis on which the mission operations are conducted altered in some points; for example, the place of preaching on Sabbath is not in the town where the great bulk of the Chinese population reside, but in Mr. Keasberry's Malay chapel, which he kindly allows Mr. Swanson and I are just starting for them the use of, but which is distant from Bay-pay, where the communion is to be the mass of the Chinese a mile or more. It held on Sabbath first; and it is hoped that is important then that a place of worship several adults, as well as some children, may be obtained in the town. It is there we have also be baptized. I believe the whole kept up street preaching on the week days, number of adult members in the nearly daily, morning or evening, often to three stations of Pechuia, Bay-pay, and large and interesting audiences, and we have Kung-Khan is now 61, which with 3 at often found the inconvenience of wanting a | Emung-Kang, and 24 at Anhai, makes 88 formation : Last Sabbath, at Anhai, I again baptized four persons-one woman and three men. These baptisms make the total number of adults, in full communion at Anhai, twenty-four. They would have been twenty-five; but in the interval since my last visit one of the female members had died. She was above seventy years old, and gave good evidence of her faith and hope to the last. On the same day, Mr. Swanson baptized one woman at Emung-Kang. adults under our care in the five stations article could not be found, but bringing around Amoy. instead a new one, considerably better than There is at present very considerable the old. She could hardly be restrained interest among the patients at the hospital, especially among the resident patients, some of whom come from great distances. It is getting a great fame in the surrounding country, especially for eye-diseases. from prostrating herself on the ground and "knocking head;" and thus the matter took end. I trust that the church at Anhai may be brought safely through this month, the second moon of the Chinese year; a time At Chang-chew the opposition continues, specially given up to the worship of the but the number of persons interested in- dead, so that it might be called "All-souls'creases. The house in which they used month;" for the Chinese combine with the to meet has been so much injured that it worship of the dead other rites for the recan no longer be used. So they meet in the pose of their spirits, and their release from River Gospel Boat. There seem some signs punishment in the invisible world. This which look hopeful, even as to outward month the people are specially "mad things; but the sky is very uncertain. upon their idols," and the Christians are Yet one thing we know, that the decree specially subject to insult, extortion, and is recorded, "Thou art my son I plunder. will give unto thee the heathen for thine inheritance." Amoy, 19th August, 1881. On the first Sabbath of this month, Mr. Swanson and I were at Bay-pay together. In the forenoon he baptized a young man from Kang-khau, and in the afternoon I dispensed the Lord's Supper. The young man baptized is almost totally blind, being able to distinguish no more than the general appearance of light and darkness. He lives at a small village some distance from the Kang-khau chapel. Though, of course, utterly unable to read, he has got now more light than many who say we see;" his neighbours are surprised at his knowledge of saving doctrine, and at the purity of his life. At the same time, the infant son of one of the members was baptized; the grandmother is also a member, she is the woman who first received the Gospel in the village of Soa-tau (near Bay-pay) several years ago Sabbath week I spent at Anhai, having gone up three days before at the urgent request of the assistants there. A piece of furniture had been stolen from the chapel in open day. The thief and his relatives, though quite well known, would not make restitution; and it was feared that the bad example would lead to serious results. On arriving, we sent for the head man of the ward (an office that may be remotely compared to a justice of the peace at home), whose duty it is to settle such matters or else to report to the mandarins. The relatives of the thief became alarmed, and sent a man of some influence in the ward to beg us not to bring the matter before the mandarins; after some consultation with the head man and the other man, we sent them to say to the relatives that if they would return the stolen article we would not carry the matter further. On this, the chief's mother came, saying that the stolen Mr. Swanson has just come down from Pechuia, where he spent last Sabbath. I hope, if the Lord will, to start to-morrow for Chang-chau, where the opposition continues unabated, but where the inquirers are said to continue steadfast notwithstanding. Ever yours most truly, CARSTAIRS DOUGLAS. Mr. Smith has returned to Tathaupo, from which he writes under date 20th August: I have been absent nearly four months, the greater part of which has been spent in Yam-chow. The regular attendance on Sabbath there was from twelve to twenty, mostly women. One cannot but feel that the truth has found access to some hearts there, while as yet none have been baptized. The village feud still continues, and is the occasion of much distraction and distress to the inhabitants. Many who used to come as hearers previous to the outbreak have withdrawn from fear of offending the idols. Some of whom we hoped well have gone to other villages to seek a livelihood. Those who have continued steadfast have been making some progress; I trust ere long some will be enabled to make a public profession of their faith, and be received into Church fellowship. During my stay there various companies of young men from other parts were hired to come for the defence of the place. Sometimes there would be a hundred or two of those village militia men, as they may be called. We often had large crowds of them as visitors. They were usually engaged for ten or twenty days, and then disbanded, and others hired in their place. They generally left us with feelings of goodwill, and some knowledge of the Gospel, and not unfrequently invited us to visit them at their native homes. In leaving Yam-chow to |