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STANZAS ON THE DEATH OF AN INFANT.

ETHERIAL shade !-what visions strange
Burst on thy new-born sight,
Unconscious of the mighty change
From darkness into light.

Born to the world, upborne to heaven,
Ere thy first cry began;

Thy stay in fleeting hours but seven,

In the abodes of man.

Few were thy hours, compared with those
Methuselah enjoy'd,

Yet mayst thou find as sweet repose,
Of pleasures know no void.
Escap'd from pain, escap'd from wo,
Ere pain or wo was known;
And now surpassing saints below,
In wisdom all thine own.

Shall spirit freed from mortal clay,
An infant of few hours,
Attune at once the heavenly lay,
With patriarchal powers?

Or shall that new etherial flame,
Of but a moment's light,

In immortality the same,

Shine less divinely bright?

Our lengthened years expand the mind,
And organs of the soul:
But now thy dust is left behind,

What shall thy powers control?

This mortal stamen holds the date

Of life, as on a page;
But must a spirit's powers await
The culture of an age?

If earthly years must circumscribe
The bounds of future good,

Who shall contrast the present tribe
With saints before the flood?

This knowledge is above our reach,
Beyond our powers to scan;
Futurity alone must teach

This mystery to man.

To know how spirit thinks or flies,
An immaterial flame ;

Or in the regions of the skies,

Knows every cherub's name.

Our knowledge grows with length of time,
Yet life is like a tale,

And when we reach another clime,
What shall our years avail?

They form no part of human life,
Where time has ceas'd to reign;
Cut off in the tumultuous strife,

Which ends all mortal pain.
There is the stream of ages past
Lost in the shoreless sea,
Of that which must for ever last,
Changeless eternity!

Still may the saints who bravely fight
Some higher raptures know,

Who bring from darkness into light
The captives of our foe.

Yet these have failings to lament,

And disobedience too,

And idle words and time mispent,
And errors not a few-

Dread day of overwhelming gloom,
What terror and surprise
Must usher in our final doom,
If all our follies rise!

If the most holy scarcely find

Their entrance into heaven,

What thousands must be left behind,
Whose sins are unforgiven!

And they perchance may wish in vain,
Their lives had pass'd like thine;
And envy e'en a martyr's chain,
To share thy bliss divine.
Etherial shade! from sorrow free,
Shall we thy exit weep?

Who ne'er can know till blest like thee,
Such wisdom-vast and deep.

Grimsby.

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GEORGE HERRING.

THE DYING CHRISTIAN.

FARE thee well, O must I leave thee,
Dearest Thirza, whom I love ;
Yet let not our parting grieve thee,
Soon our souls shall meet above.
Hark! a heavenly sound, inviting
Me to join the glorious throng,
Seraph's softer strains reciting,
Bid me chant the sacred song.

Oh! what brilliant beams descending
Captivate my ravish'd eyes,
Now my mortal race is ending,
Jesus calls me to the skies.

Swift on eagle's pinions soaring,
Mounts my spirit with delight,
Canaan's boundless shores exploring,
Regions of eternal light.

Splendid joys are now unfolding
Joys unknown to finite sense;
Heavenly hosts amaz'd beholding,
Hail their King's omnipotence.

Saints and angels too are greeting,
Sounds of rapture fill the skies,
Jesus smiles, delightful meeting!

Thou art mine, my child, he cries.

Take thy crown, and reign for ever,
Range in peace this blissful shore,
Nought my saints and me shall sever,
Firmly join'd for evermore.

ALEC WINCHESTER.

AN ENGLISHMAN CONFINED IN THE

INQUISITION.

WHAT tongue can half my poignant anguish tell,
Consign'd in endless misery to mourn,
Horrific groanings echo through my cell,
From pining objects, wretched and forlorn.

I wake at morn, but, ah! no joy for me,
In this drear spot a ray has never shone,
My eyes, alas, no cheering objects see,

Grief and despair remain for me alone.
Perchance I murmur at my weighty woes,
And crave the tyrant to assuage my grief;
"Tis then with ten-fold force he adds his blows,
Augmenting sorrow, rather than relief.

A scanty draught to stay my raging thirst,
The taunting monster brings with grudging care,

My heart rejoices, yet keen lashes first

Sting my poor flesh, inflicting many a scar.

How small a portion forms my daily share!
I linger here, depriv'd of food, I faint,
Yet no kind heart or sympathetic ear
Eases my woe, or lists to my complaint.

Britannia's sons may sail from pole to pole,
Or round the spacious world undaunted roam;
The Jew and Turk through various nations stroll,
And in each kingdom find a tranquil home.

The eagle waves her plumes toward the sky,
Or at her fancy roves from rock to tree;
The numerous feather'd tribes at pleasure fly,
Exulting with the joys of liberty.

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Review. Welsh's Reminiscences of India.

Excluded from the world with all its sweets,

I weep o'er former hours of peace and love,
The woodland shades, the valley's cool retreats,
My native cottage in the fragrant grove.
I chide the pang that tells of pleasures gone,
Hope still would flutter at the thoughts of home,
But ah! those happy hours shall ne'er return,
This horrid dungeon seals my final doom.

I think of home, and heave the bitt'rest sigh,
That e'er ascended from a mortal breast;
What! leave Lavinia, partner of my joy,

Of all my fondest offspring dispossess'd?
Relentless murderers, thus to pierce my veins,
My precious life-drops leave my wounded heart,
My fleeting breath in gradual motion wanes,

And death shall soon my soul and body part. Yet, Heaven be prais'd, my hope is still secure,] Christ is my Saviour and perpetual friend, His love shall through eternity endure, Where weepings cease, and cruel tortures end.

ALEC. WINCHESTER.

REVIEW.-Military Reminiscences extracted from a Journal of nearly Forty Years' active Service in the East Indies. By Colonel James Welsh, of the Madras establishment. 2 Vols. 8vo. pp. 368-347. Smith & Co. London. 1830. IN our preceding number, we spoke of this work in general terms, and also gave several extracts from the first volume. Some of these were in the direct line of the author's profession, but others were on common topics, such as might present themselves to every traveller visiting these interesting regions. On all occasions Mr. Welsh appears to have been on the alert, to notice passing events, and to enter on his journal whatever presented an aspect either new or strange. From these varied accumulations he has compiled a work of more than ordinary merit, and has thrown into its statements and details a portion of life that can rarely fail to attract the notice, and secure the attention, of his readers.

Of this valuable work we now turn to the second volume, suspending our further observations, to make room for extracts, which will place Mr. Welsh as an author, and his work as a publication, in a more pleasing light than any critical eulogiums could confer. To many readers, we doubt not, these specimens of the author's talents, and his appropriation of them, will furnish an inducement to become more intimately acquainted with the productions of his pen, while to others they will delineate varied scenes in India, of which they might otherwise remain long in comparative ignorance.

The violence of an Indian hurricane, Mr. Welsh thus describes:

"The wind, which was at first moderate, gra. dually rose, and at ten A. M. on the second of May, 1811, had increased to a perfect hurricane, which

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continued with unabated fury for seventeen hours the last six indeed, seldom equalled in any part of the world: during which, houses were upset, doors and windows blown off their hinges, trees torn up by the roots, and streams were running with great force in every direction. The sea, forcing its way into both rivers, swept all before it; two bridges could not be discovered for two days afterwards, and the Marmelong, having its centre arch carried away, was impassable for a considerable time.

"After this faint outline of the damage sus. tained on shore, I know not what words can picture the horrors of the scene in the roads. Of all the ships, brigs, cutters, ketches, donies, &c. only one solitary brig escaped, by putting out to sea at the commencement of the storm. Many foundered at their anchors, for the surface rose as far out as nine fathoms, others were literally torn to pieces, and the rest dashed against the shore in all directions. The whole beach was covered with wrecks, a distance of nearly three miles; and so thickly were the fragments strewed, that it was with difficulty we could find our way through them, as soon as the storm was over; yet, wonderful to relate, the hand of the Almighty was most singularly extended over the crews of his Majesty's fine frigate Daver, and store-ship Chichester, and several other English ships, which were totally lost; only two Europeans losing their lives, of hundreds exposed to the most imminent peril; and I believe only a few hundred natives perished, of thousands whose floating habitations were buried in the waters."Vol. ii. p. 2.

The following is an instance of strong confidence placed by a wealthy native in the integrity of the British government:

"On the 28th of March, old Poorniah, a ci-devant minister of state, who most ably ruled the Mysore country for many years during the minority of the present rajah, being very aged and infirm, departed this life in the fort of Seringapatam, where he had resided for many years with all his riches, in perfect retirement and security. He left all his wealth, said to amount to ten crores of pagodas, about four millions sterling, to his sons, also resident in the fort; a convincing proof of the entire confidence reposed in the British government by the natives. They had a Hindoo native officer's guard over the treasure during the father's illness, and for a few days afterwards, till their rights were publicly acknowledged and they gave every man of the guard a handsome present when relieved. Colonel Hill and Poorniah were old acquaintances; and the Colonel himself was dying, when Poorniah sent him word that he "was going to the land of his fathers." He sent back a reply, that "he was also going the same road," and actually survived him only a few days.". Vol. ii. p. 9.

Among the natives, superstition holds an almost undisturbed dominion, though some few shrewdly suspect that the objects of their veneration are more indebted to imagination than to inherent power, for the extensive influence they possess.

"In a deep jungle about two hundred yards to the northward of this house, is a sacred pagoda, the repository of a sword said to be two thousand years old, which is annually carried in procession by a Brahmin, down the Ghaut, to a pagoda, where many thousands of pilgrims assemble to behold it. We visited the spot, and examined this ancient weapon, always exposed to the weather in an open building, where fogs, dew, and rain are continual. It certainly has a most antique appearance, the hilt being of brass, extremely rudely formed, and the blade a mere misshapen mass of old iron, which had been broken and rudely mended near the point; or what

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Review.-Welsh's Reminiscences of India.

should be the point, for it has none at present. In such veneration is this relique held by the natives of Wynaud, that it is left in this open spet in the jungle, without any guard or security, but the superstition of the people, and they attribute such miracles to it, that the ark of the Israelites was not held more holy. Its touch is instant annihilation; and even its appearance, at certain times, is mortal. The Brahmin who carries it down annually, must not have seen man or woman for five days; and any unfortunate wretch who happens to come across him in his holy pilgrimage, drops down dead on the spot! Such is the tale which cunning has worked out of igno rance and superstition, and such the veneration paid by these weak wretches to a dirty bit of old rusty iron."-Vol. ii. p. 22.

The extract which follows, will convince the reader, that tigers are by no means desirable neighbours:

"On the 28th of June, a tiger took a walk to a village to the northward, and carried off a cow and a calf for his breakfast; then returning home over one of the neighbouring hills, he met a bullock and a sheep, both of which he purloined for his tifin and dinner. A few such visitors, with similar appetites, would soon create a famine in this neighbourhood. On the 8th of August, also, a tiger passing through several droves of oxen, and flocks of sheep, walked coolly up at mid-day to a young lad, sitting with a dozen other shepherds, and seizing him by the hand carried him off in his mouth, to the astonishment and consternation of the beholders. On the 11th, two fingers and part of the skull of the poor lad were found near the ghaut, but no further traces of the monster or his unfortunate prey."—Vol. ii. p. 29. The unhealthy situation of Seringapatam may be inferred from the following fact:

"In a few days I proceeded to bring the corps in from Seringapatam, and returned with it on the 6th of October, having been absent nearly eight months, during which time we had lost about four hundred men, women, and children: and brought back one hundred and twenty sick, who now recovering rapidly, were nearly all out of the hospital within a month."-Vol. ii. p. 30.

The following paragraph is not calculated to place the conduct of the English in the most enviable light. It introduces to our notice two wealthy natives far advanced in years, mourning over their departed neighbours, and the desolation of their country:

"Having seen all their old companions laid in the silent grave, they seemed left for a little longer space, almost solely to point out to strangers the spot where such an one resided; where such a building once stood; and to tell how the English wantonly destroyed the finest and most sacred edifices, as well as the works of the place. For, setting aside the mild and more recent precepts of the divine law, and acting on the lex talionis principle, because the French on the other coast had destroyed both public and private edifices in Madras, they not only pulled down the governor's palace, the ruins of which still tell what a magnificent building it must have been, but also destroyed a public school, and dismantled the church, an uncommonly large one. I feel a glow on my cheek, while writing this sentence, Protestant though I am. How must these men have despised and execrated in their hearts, the per

petrators of such barbarous acts. These gentle

men are both since dead, and their mortal remains mingled with the dust of their former companions."-Vol. ii. p. 43.

Among our author's adventures while in India, his falling into a pit that had been

940

excavated, and slightly covered over, for the capture of elephants, is one of the most remarkable. It was twelve feet in depth, and so secure, that without assistance, an escape was scarcely possible. Fortunately he was not seriously hurt, but two of his companions having fallen into another close by, were so severely injured, that the accident cost them their lives. The narrative is both humorous and affecting; but though full of interest, is too long to be extracted.

The strange ceremony of walking through the fire, which the natives practise on certain occasions, demands an insertion from its singularity. It also derives an additional interest from the strange efficacy of some preparation with which they rub themselves, in order to pass the burning ordeal, and which has the apparent property of rendering them invulnerable against the corrosions of fire, and the sensation of heat. But we will state the fact in Mr. Welsh's own words:

"On the 12th of March, 1813, being invited by the Hindoos of our corps, to see the ceremony of walking through the fire, I mounted my horse, accompanied by Captain Pepper, and rode to the spot, in rear of the native lines, where an oblong pit was prepared, eighteen feet by twelve. I am not aware of its depth, because on our arrival it was full of live coals perfectly red hot. A procession then arrived on the opposite side, and every one of them either walked or danced deliberately through the fire length-ways, having only two landing-places in the centre of each of the smaller faces. This fire was actually so intense, that we could not approach its margin, but sat on our horses at a distance, watching every motion. I had seen a little, and had heard more, of this strange feat, but never had such an opportunity of positive proof before. It was in the middle of the Hooly Feast, and I understood the particular ceremony was in honour of the smallpox deity Mariamah, to whom they sacrifice a cock, before they venture into the furnace. besmeared all over with some yellow stuff, they go backward and forward, both quick and slow, without any apparent suffering, and one man carried an infant on his shoulders, which did not even cry. The puppets of this extraordinary show were of all ages; and I saw a very fine boy slip down at the landing-place, and the others pulled him up uninjured immediately. I have now stated the fact, from occular demonstration; it remains for chemists to explore the nature of the stuff with which they are besmeared, for every Christian will at once attribute this apparent miracle to the true cause, and give them due credit for a very subtle trick. I never could get any native to explain this; and I suspect that the Mussulmans, who can have no interest in keeping up the deception, are quite as ignorant of the means as we are."-Vol. ii. p. 50.

Then

Like most other nations and tribes, the Hindoos have among them many traditions, some of which bear a most extravagant character. To these the common people pay a kind of religious attention, and their credulity appears to increase in proportion as they commit an outrage on the dictates of reason and common sense. The Irish tradition of St. Partrick swimming across the channel with his head in his mouth, is

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Review. Reminiscences in India.

scarcely more absurd; but we have no room for tales of such monstrous fictions.

In the management of their boats amidst a high and dangerous surf, the natives are represented as being exceedingly dexterous. The formidable waves are not the only enemy they have to encounter. They are frequently overturned by the violence of the billows, and while struggling for life in the waters, are surrounded by sharks, ever ready to devour their prey.

Nor is the land more exempt from dangers. The ferocious tiger lurks unseen in the jungles, and the venomous serpent lies concealed in unsuspected nooks. The suddenness of the attacks, and the virulence of the poison, may be easily gathered from the following occurrence:

"Mr. Pearson, the Zillah judge, who lived in a large house, apart from any other, and whose compound had been permitted to retain a portion of the underwood, for the purpose of amusement with pointers and spaniels, was walking, about seven o'clock in the evening, attended by his dogs, peons, &c. enjoying the evening air, when suddenly he received a blow on the instep, and, looking down, perceived a large snake making off. The effect was instantaneous, he fell into the arms of his attendants, was carried into the house, took a dose of eau de luce immediately, and sent off for the doctor, who ran half a mile to attend him. Half an hour had now elapsed since the bite, and the native jugglers and snake-men, had arrived, and applied a snake-stone to the wound, which was in actual adhesion, when the surgeon, scarifying the adjacent flesh, and, pouring eau de luce on it, caused the stone to fall off, which was not again applied. A vein was also opened above the wound, which produced blood in a very bad state; a tight ligature was then applied, the draught was applied every fifteen minutes, and till eleven no unfavourable symptoms appeared. All at once, however, the throat became affected, and his voice failed. At half past twelve convulsions ensued, and the poor sufferer lingered, unable to articulate, till nine o'clock on the next morning, when he expired."Vol. ii. p. 104.

An extraordinary tribe of natives, called the Nayaree or Niaree, are represented as the most abject of the human family. They are nearly black, have bushy hair, have a language of their own, never build houses, wear no clothing, and dare not approach any other inhabitant of the coast. They live on trees, in bushes, or in holes in the ground, and are little above the brutes in the mental powers they display.

The Chinese, Mr. Welsh observes, place the most implicit faith in the character of Europeans when dealing with them, but he thinks the same compliment cannot be returned to the native traders in the celestial empire. They are more disposed to trust foreigners, than their own countrymen, and the reasons assigned are sufficient to justify these conclusions.

The character of Christianity in Goa is degraded by the vices of the priests, and the base morals of the people. It shows

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iniquity taking shelter under the awful sanctions of religion, and becoming the more detestable for the visor which it wears. The only redeeming quality is, that the Inquisition was without any inhabitants.

Speaking of the ruins of Bejapoor, the author has the following observations:

"I took up my abode for the day, in the Ioomah Musjeed: but will not now say any more respecting this stupendous proof of the instability of all human grandeur, in which have been expended millions of money, in buildings alone, for bats and owls to inhabit. The heart sickens, while in the very act of admiring the surprising domes, and enormous masses of hewn stone, raised by means apparently not handed down to the present generation."-Vol. ii. p. 305.

Among the ruins of Bejapoor, Mr. Welsh visited an extraordinary cannon, which he thus describes :

"This fine cavalier is situated near the rampart, and not above a few hundred yards from the bastion, on which stands the Moolk é Maiden, a kind of howitzer of cast metal, supposed to be partly gold, and of enormous value; the dimensions of which are fifteen feet long, nearly five feet in diameter, and the bore two feet three inches. It is so very massive and solid, that it presents no vulnerable point to any common tools, and has therefore remained entire, and without blemish to the present day, on the top of an open bastion, in a ruined rampart, exposed to the inclemency of the weather for upwards of two centuries, and totally abandoned perhaps for one. The tradition is, that it was actually fired once during the siege, when the ball, missing the besieger's camp, went hissing through the air, occasioning many mishaps on its passage, for thirty or forty miles, and was never found afterwards. Indeed, my informant very sagaciously added,-' some suppose that it is yet flying."-Vol. ii. p. 318.

Among the same ruins, which embrace a circumference of twenty-four miles, over which are scattered fragments of former magnificence, remnants of splendid mansions, surprising monuments, places of worship still lifting their lofty heads above the surrounding scenes of desolation, intersected with habitations of beggary, another gun of vast dimensions was discovered. It was thirty feet long, and twelve inches in bore, but it does not appear to bear any marks of great antiquity equal to the preceding.

But we must now prepare to take our leave of these interesting volumes. With plates and engravings of various descriptions, amounting to ninety-one, they are richly ornamented. As works of art, perhaps, they do not occupy a foremost rank; but as illustrations of scenes in nature, or productions of art, they are highly valuable, because appropriate and expressive, and whoever gazes on them with an eye to utility, rather than for the amusement of fancy, and the gratification of taste, will be pleased with the fidelity of their representations.

In the literary department, all preten

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Review. Rev. F. Martyn's Sermon.

sions to elegance of diction are disclaimed, but the perspicuity which prevails throughout, renders all apology unnecessary. The materials are both abundant and varied, every where displaying sterling worth, and evincing the author's unwearied industry, and the successful application of his talents. The scenery exhibited on the banks of the Ganges, never fail to interest the European visitor. Mr. Welsh, instead of transporting us to India, has imported a valuable cargo from her shores, and without exposing us to the hazard of a tedious voyage, and the fatigue of travelling, regales us with its fragrance on the margins of the Thames.

REVIEW.-A Sermon preached at the Opening of the Roman Catholic Chapel, of the Holy Family, at Houghton Hall, Yorkshire, the Seat of the Honorable C. Langdale, on Feb. 25th, 1829, by the Rev. F. Martyn.

THE prophetic description of the Man of sin by St. Paul, and that of the Beast by St. John, are as applicable to the church of Rome, as the golden image of Nebuchadnezzar was to the mould in which it was cast; and his holiness the pope is as well delineated as if he had sat for his portrait. One trait in the history of that church is, falsehood and lying wonders; and this, the sermon now before us is calculated to support.

Mr. Martyn has certainly identified himself to be a legitimate son of his holy mother at Rome; and his attempt to prove that his holy father the pope is the hereditary representative of St. Peter, is an undertaking more worthy the dark ages, than of the nineteenth century. He must either be ignorant of the history of popery, or have had a good opinion of the ignorance of his audience, when he told them that Bede, Augustin, and Ambrose used the words " mass," ," and "the sacrifice of the mass," exactly in the same sense that the church of Rome does now. Such a bold assertion could be made only by a popish dogmatist, and believed only by a credulously superstitious audience.

Poynder, in his " Evidences and Characters of Christianity," makes the same attempt, but he has completely failed; as the word mass does not occur in any of the quotations which he has made from ancient creeds. On the contrary, he has incautiously brought out some old armour, which a Protestant may, with a little rub. bing up, successfully use in driving him from his post: for the whole of the quo

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tations prove, that the ancient church administered both the bread and the wine in the Eucharist, to all her members.

The word mass is derived from the Latin verb missa est: a phrase which was used by the deacons of the ancient church when the service was over, intimating that the catechumens were to depart, while the members were to remain, and partake of the Lord's supper. Ecclesia was understood to agree with missa est; the assembly is dismissed. Missa signifying "dismission," the word in time came to be applied to public prayers as dismissed to heaven. Hence St. Ambrose sometimes used the phrase "missas facere," to make supplications. But the church of Rome applies the word both to her public service, and the sacrifice of the mass, as she expresses it. Now the sacrifice of the mass was church till the thirteenth century, when never publicly acknowledged by that Gregory IX. sanctioned it by a decree, which runs thus: "Sacerdotes frequentes deceant plebem suam, et cum in celebratione Missarum elevatur hostia reverentur si inclinent, idemque faciant cum defert presbyter ad infirmam.”

eam

This was a necessary consequence of the figment of transubstantiation. For if the bread and wine underwent a change in the consecrating, every fractional part of them must have done the same; and whatever remained after the communion, must hence be divine, and of course it became the subject of adoration with the senseless multitude. Here was a legitimate conclusion from false premises. But in the mean

while, the date reduces Mr. Martyn's age of the sacrifice of the mass from fourteen hundred to six hundred years.

Κρητες ἄει ψευσται.

Mr. Martyn touches the old string of popish episcopal ordination, as being the infallible requisite of a minister of Christ; for he says that he can prove a regular succession of regularly ordained pastors in the church of Rome, from the times of the apostles to the present day, and humbly enumerates himself in that succession. Does Mr. M. not know that the church of England, the Greek church, and the Syrian church, can, upon his own principles, do the same? Where is then the boasted exclusive right which his church vainly arrogates to himself?

The imbelle telum, which this champion of St. Mary's Mount, Walsal, throws at the established church, and those who dissent from her, is that which may be most successfully used against the infallibility of his holy father the pope.

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