TIME'S COLD HAND.

HERE are visions to shine in the eye of the youth,
That appear as they ne'er will be faded;"

Here are hopes that will beam with the splendour of truth,
But soon will that splendour be shaded;

For tears on those hopes and those visions must fall;
Time's cold hand will touch them and wither them all.

Here are perfumes to steal on the senses of wealth,
And wrap them in heavenly slumbers;

Here's a harp whose soft notes will flow by as in stealth,
And call up sweet dreams with its numbers;

Yet tears on that harp and those perfumes must fall;
Time's cold hand will touch them and wither them all.

Here is Fancy, the poet to crown with its bays,
And from heav'n fire etherial to borrow;
Here is Feeling with mildness to hallow his days,
And steal a few pangs from pale sorrow;

But tears upon feeling and fancy must fall;

Time's cold hand will touch them and wither them all.

AN EVENING IN JUNE.

THE clouds were dispersed, and the tempest was o'er,
The crimson of evening illumined the sky,
And the soft heaving waves as they rippled ashore,'
Gleamed bright with the tint of its magical dye.
The swallows were sweeping the fields of the air,
The blackbird sang forth from its leafy retreat,
And the flow'rs, renewed in their bloom, smiled as fair,
As the long promised land at the Israelites' feet.
Besides me the roses and lilies were spread,
The pink and carnation of delicate vest,

The columbine lifted the pride of its head,

And the dial of the sunflower was turned to the west.

The butterfly wantoned on wings of delight,
While the bee, on her errand of industry bent,
Was rifling the blooms, at the fall of the night,
For a noonday of tempest in idleness spent.

To the main, to the mountains, with love-blooming eye,
Rejoicing I turned, and their looks were as calm,
As the beautiful arch of that deep azure sky,

Whose aspect was holy, whose zephyr was balm.
Oh! thus, ere the days of this pilgrimage cease,
May the sunset of life be as placid and mild,
The storms of Adversity stilled into peace,
All passion becalmed, and all sorrow exiled!

THE description given by Mr. Sutton of what he witnessed during the Rhut Jattra, in 1827, is striking and appalling. Approaching the cars when a storm was commencing, he observes

Just as I came within sight of the cars the storm came on violently -the thunder roared, the lightning flashed, and the rain poured down in torrents, as if the elements had conspired together to manifest their indignance at the insults offered to the Majesty of heaven. In about an hour the storm subsided, and the business of idolatry proceeded. The scattered multitude, which dispersed in every direetion at the bursting of the storm, again assembled at the deafening sound of the tomtoms, and the discordant clanging of the barbarous trumpets. Here I beheld a promiscuous multitude prostrate before the all-commanding Mahainah (glory) of Juggernaut, unrestrained by the mud, or even the water, though knee deep, which the last soaking storm had left. There was seen a zealous mother bowing down her infant's head before the idol, and thus early initiating her tender offspring into the degradation of idolatry. In another place was a group of men, women, and children, bowing down with profound reverence, so that they might touch with their foreheads the ropes of the different cars; and in some conspicuous spot, a devotee, eager to distinguish himself, advancing with clasped hands and steady eye towards the idol, till a clear space was afforded him, he threw himself flat on his face, and worshipped; he lay perhaps a few moments, then half raising himself, stretches forth his hands towards the idol, mutters a repetition, and then prostrates himself afresh before his god. But suddenly the scene changes-a shout is heard a body, perhaps, of 2000 men, armed with sticks and boughs, rush forward to the cars; a louder shout is heard-the people seize the huge ropes;—the clanging of instruments sound with a more vehement peal, and the car moves on, but it moves with a tardy pace: and to animate the draggers of the ponderous vehicle, one of Juggernaut's adorers stepped forward to the extreme front of the car, and practised the most licentious gestures that an impure imagination can conceive of; he then exerts his stentorian lungs in as abominable expressions; and again he turned towards the god, and repeated his abomination. The god was pleased, the draggers were

fired with fresh zeal, and the enormous load, as it rolled on its 16 wheels, grated harsh thunder, but they ran foul of a house, and crushed the falling ruins.

They still proceeded, women and men of all descriptions and casts, united to drag the ponderous wain. Presently two miserable wretches are seen, one with his shattered arm and another his writhing back, bleeding and torn by the destructive car, whether accidently or intentionally or unintentionally I know not. All seems infernal revelry; the wretches in the rhuts, with their obscenity; the wonder-gazing mob with their vociferations; the crowds of women with their jarring hoot (a noise something like that made by a bird called an Eve Jar on a fine summer's evening in England, the indescribable noise of the harsh sounding instruments; the gay colours and long streamers of the cars; the ugly shape and great staring eyes of the idols; the mad enthusiasm of the vast multitude; and a thousand things which can scarce be described; all tend to impress one with the idea of a holiday in hell, with its blaspheming monarch riding in triumph through his fallen associates.

Oh idolatry! idolatry! thou destroyer of body and soul, when shall thy infernal influence be curtailed, and thy long-extended reign be brought to a close, and thy power to curse mankind be known no more? Ah Christian, what should be thy prayer? but the shout is again heard, and again and again the scene is acted, till the three cars have reached the assigned distance for the night. I then went forth and distributed books to as many as could read, and bade farewell to the intoxicating throng for the night."

A heart-rending description of an evening near this temple, is contained in a communication of Mr. Lacey :

The shades of evening are now prevailing; the sun is sinking in the western waters, and leaving me in darkness. A feeling of deep horror, that I cannot express, steals across my mind, and irresistibly drives me away. The jackals are leaving their jungles, and are repairing hither for their nightly repast; the eagles are flying to the neighbouring trees for the night, filled with the flesh of man! the din of idol poojah assails my ears from every direction, and the work of blasphemy now commences."

On some occasions the crowds that assemble in this emporium of idolatry, have listened to the Missionaries with tolerable attention. At other times the opposition made to the glorious Gospel, manifests how much the wicked one is concerned to maintain his empire at Juggernaut. On one occasion, Mr. Bampton writes:

"This has been one of the worst nights I ever endured. Mockery? mockery? cruel mockery! almost unbearable. I talked for a while, and was heard by some, on the blessings to be enjoyed by faith in Jesus Christ; when a man came with an hell-hardened countenance, and that peculiar constant laugh, which I can hardly bear. He spoke Hindostanee, so that I understood him worse than I otherwise should have done; but the burden of his cry was, 'Juggernaut is the foundation! Juggernaut is completely god! Victory to Juggernaut,' &c. He clapped his hands; he shouted; he laughed, and induced the rest, or a great part of them, to do the same. On the ground of reason I fear no one; and rage I can commonly bear