| they build up a great pyramid of earth, which they whitewash, and call "The Pyramid of Peace.' A flag waves on the top of it, covered all over with written prayers: if Some of you have heard old people talk of their young days, when it used to be said, that Napoleon was coming. Those were the times, when every one that could handle a gun used to turn out for military exercise; it is very windy, the lamas shout, and even boys and old men felt that, and beat their drums with great glee if he did come, they would do some- -for the more the wind blows their thing to defend their country. Then flag about, the sooner will the prayers it was that Christians met together on it be wafted up to heaven; and to pray that God would protect them, they feel sure that they shall have and spare their beloved native land peace. from being made desolate by war; and God heard their prayers, and did not allow the proud invader to approach us. Now, I am going to tell you what the people in Thibet do when they are afraid of war, or when they hear that a party of robbers are coming to attack them. They neither prepare to defend themselves, nor ask God to protect them, but this is what they do:-A number of their priests, or lamas, as they are called, ascend the highest mountain in the neighbourhood- not to look over the country and see if their enemies are coming; oh, no! but to chant, in a curious sing-song manner, a long string of words which might once have been prayers, but of which the lamas themselves do not understand one word. This lasts two days-a great deal of drumming and noise, which they call music, going on all the time. Then You smile at this childishness, and say, it is a very silly way indeed of trying to get peace; but is it not very sad, dear children, to think that these people know no better? They cannot even tell how to get earthly peace; and, alas! of the peace of mind which Christ can give, they never so much as heard. Many heathen tribes and nations are constantly at war: they scarcely know what it is to sleep in quiet, STORY OF A YOUNG HINDOO WIDOW. THE following very interesting his- | year, and then went to reside for a tory will, we are sure, be read by our young friends with pleasure, and we hope with profit. It was written by Mrs Duff, the wife of the Rev. Dr | Duff, of Calcutta :— "You asked me for some account of the young native widow you met the other evening at our house. She was born in 1833, in the Zillah Nuddea, of respectable parents of the highest class of Kayasthas, and named Nirtyakali. In the sixth year of her age, according to the Hindoo custom, she was given in marriage by her father to a youth of the name of Umesh Chunara Sircar, whose parents also were persons of the highest respectability, his father being the Dewan, or manager, of the property of a native Rajah. Of the marriage ceremonies Nirtyakali remembers little, beyond the appearance of the assembled party, the lights, and the music. After the marriage, she lived in her own father's house for one month in her husband's family, after which she returned again to her own family, and remained with them until she had reached her tenth year, when she made her home in her husband's house. This is a fair example of the early marriage system, so common in this country, at once the cause and effect of endless corruption and misery, unions without affection or principle, widowhood without pity or sympathy. "At the time that Nirtyakali joined her husband, he was a student in the Free Church Institution, and was beginning to feel serious convictions of sin, and impressions of the truth of Christianity. Being fondly attached to his young wife, who proved herself to be naturally an amiable, loveable person, he was greatly distressed at the thought of being separated from her in the event of his embracing the Christian faith. And so, to prepare for such a trial, he proposed to teach her to read Bengali, that, through 12 STORY OF A YOUNG HINDOO WIDOW. that language, he might convey to excite the suspicions of his father, her a knowledge of the Gospel. "His father, being a very strict orthodox Hindoo, he was compelled to carry on this private instruction without the father's knowledge. Generally, late at night, after the father and other members of the family had retired to rest, might Umesh be found stealing an hour from sleep, in order to teach his wife, in their most private apartment, the elements of the Bengali language and the truths of the everlasting Gospel. A more interesting scene, under all the circumstances of the case, could scarcely be imagined. Being docile, quick, and ingenious, Nirtyakali's mind soon opened up to discern and to despise the errors and abominations of Hinduism, and to discover and estimate the truth and spiritual beauty of Christianity. At last she said to her husband that she was quite prepared to follow him, whenever he might think it proper to take the decisive step. The grand difficulty was to find an opportunity of escape from the prison-like inclosures of the zenana; still, being now emboldened by his wife's preparedness of head and heart, an opportunity of escape was watched for. "Meanwhile Umesh's studied absence from all the family rites and ceremonies of idol worship began to and so he was removed from the Free Church Institution, and kept in close confinement. For several weeks after his disappearance from the Institution, it could not be ascertained what had become of him. At last, one evening, when the members of his family were more than usually busy about some domestic feast, he found means of getting out of the house, and coming to Dr Duff to tell him all that had happened, and to consult him about the future. "Dr Duff now, for the first time, learnt the interesting details respecting his young wife, Nirtyakali. On hearing from him the state of his wife's mind, Dr Duff did not hesitate as to the course which ought to be pursued. If the wife had been hostile to Christianity, or had she resisted all attempts to instruct her in it, then ought Umesh, under his own deep personal convictions on the subject, to come out at once, and be separated from heathenism, by openly embracing the faith of Jesus. But his wife, so far from being hostile, had come to know and believe in Christianity, and had expressed her desire to embrace it along with her husband. Here was a dilemma! If Umesh, then, left his father's house without his wife, from the rigid condition of things in Hindoo society, the STORY OF A YOUNG HINDOO WIDOW. probability was that he would never see her again, and that the poor thing would be treated as a widow, and left to pine away in sadness and in sorrow, to the imminent peril of her soul's salvation. Such being the case, Dr Duff advised Umesh to have faith in God, and, for his wife's sake, to return into his confinement, there to study the precious Bible with his attached companion in the bonds of the Gospel, to pray more earnestly than ever to their Father in heaven, and watch and wait for an opportunity of escape, which God in His gracious providence might present. "The counsel was taken: Umesh returned to his father's house, and for some weeks nothing was heard of him. At last, one Sabbath evening, at about six o'clock, Umesh and his wife suddenly made their appearance at our house, which was two or three miles distant from that of his father. This occurred towards the end of 1844, when Nirtyakali was little more than eleven years of age, her husband being about seventeen. The former, never having been beyond the seclusion of native female society, and never come in contact with Europeans at all, felt timid and exceedingly shy. Wrapped up in her country attire, she stood in a corner of the room with her face towards the wall. By degrees, as the tones of kindness 13 in which she was spoken to gave her confidence, she became more free, and in a few days openly met us face to face, expressing her thoughts in modest, winning simplicity, and yet with the utmost clearness and precision. "The account which Umesh gave of their escape seemed clearly to indicate that it was the providential over-ruling of Him who is the hearer and answerer of prayer. It was effected in the following manner :-On the Sabbath-day alluded to, there happened to be celebrated a grand heathen festival. Umesh's father, and other members of the family (as is usual with the wealthy natives), had gone out to spend the day in idolatrous revelry in a garden-house in the country, leaving Umesh and his wife under the strict care of some trustworthy servants. Late in the afternoon, a grand idolatrous procession happened to be passing by, with its figures decked in tinsel drapery, and its stunning music. To the servants the temptation proved too strong; they therefore hurried for a few moments outside the verandah, without remembering to bolt the inner doors, and thereby keep their prisoners in durance. "At that very time, by a singular coincidence in Providence, Umesh and his wife were reading the first |