60 SCENES IN PEKIN.-A CHINESE JUGGLER. get something out of his throat, drew forth a little slip of bamboo, like a Lisbon toothpick, then another and another, then he sneezed, and out they came from his nostrils, then from his eyes, until he completed the number of thirty-seven, by making one appear half-way out of each orifice at the same time, and then threw the lot on the ground for any one to examine. He next took three glass balls, about an inch in diameter, and, placing them singly between his lips, sucked them into his mouth and swallowed first a red one, then a blue, and last of all a white one; here was a little interlude of toothpicks and talking, after which he walked gravely round the ring, stopping four times; each time he gave himself a shake and a jump, when the balls were distinctly heard to jingle inside him. On completing his round, after several efforts, he spat the balls out on the ground in the same order he had swallowed them, the red first, the white last. He then took two more balls, one of polished steel about the size of a hen's egg, and another of glass the same size. These he first let fall on the ground to show they were solid, then, placing them between his lips, swallowed them like the smaller ones, but with difficulty, the ball swelling the throat as it went down; here more toothpicks and talking, while he prepared two swords, about an inch wide and twenty long, very like polished hoop-iron, clashed them together to show they were real, and passed both down his throat at once, until they struck the balls with an audible click; withdrawing these, he placed his hands behind him, and after several apparently painful trials, each ball rose in the throat, and fell from his mouth to the ground with a heavy thump. Other tricks he did, only suited to a Chinese audience; but after his exertions he appeared quite satisfied with the trifle each threw him. The shops on either side the street are only one story high, and, amid all the mud and filth, are made as gaudy as gilt and the primitive colours can make them. They have no windows, the only light being given by the door, which in windy weather is closed by a curtain of matting to keep out the dust, which, by the way, is very peculiar. Outside the city it is common brown mud, but inside the walls the ground is black like powdered coal, and on hot windy days blows about in clouds. The day the treaty was signed the whole of the embassy, and those who accompanied Lord Elgin to see the ceremony, were like as many sweeps. Pekin is not nearly so large or so densely populated as we have always been led to believe. It has little or no suburbs, and, judging from a ride through both Tartar and Chinese portions, 1 should say it was not much larger than Manchester or Glasgow. The inhabitants certainly pack very closely, but then the houses are only one story, and every one has some pretensions to a garden behind it. The grounds of the Winter Palace, and the beautiful park round the Temple of Heaven, are each several square miles in extent, while the different yamuns, or houses of the numerous nobles and mandarins, take up acres upon acres each; so that the ground occupied by the general population is comparatively small, and I should estimate the latter as a little more, perhaps, than that of Glasgow.-Letter of the Times' Correspondent. "And he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre."-Matt. xxvii. 60. "Jesus cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it."-John xi. 38. DR. BUCHANAN, in his "Clerical Furlough," gives an interesting illustration of the passage above quoted. When at Jerusalem he visited and examined the so-called "Tombs of the Kings," which are situated about half a mile from the Damascus Gate of the city. He found that the entrance was by a low and narrow doorway, which had evidently been closed by a stone door turning upon pivots of the same material, and so placed as to shut by its own weight. "In addition to this," says Dr. B., "and outside of it, the door was shut in by a contrivance that deeply interested us. In the Scripture narrative of the burial of our Lord, we read that they laid Him in a sepulchre which was hewn out of a rock, and rolled a stone to the door of the sepulchre.' Here we had before us the very thing which these words describe; the only case, so far as I know, in Judea, in which that ancient apparatus for closing the grave's mouth remains to the present time. "It is a large circular stone, shaped like a millstone, and set on 62 EASTERN CRIPPLES BEGGING. edge. A deep niche, or recess, is cut into the solid rock to the left of the door, into which the stone might be rolled aside when the tomb was to be opened. When the tomb was to be closed up, the stone would be again rolled back into its proper place; its disk being large enough to make it not only cover up the entire doorway, but to enter and fit into another niche on the right side of the door, and thus completely to shut it in. In other words, the circular stone was large enough to overlap the door on both sides, and being caught by the niches within which its opposite edges rested, it would be kept firm in its position; and this the rather that the rut or groove cut into the solid rock in front of the doorway, and in which the stone travelled, had such an inclination as to prevent the stone from rolling back, or even from being pushed aside, without the application of a powerful force. "Looking at this stone, as it stood within the deep groove or niche to the left of the doorway, into which it had been rolled, we realized as we had never done before, the difficulty to which the pious women of Galilee referred, when, on their way to the Saviour's tomb, 'they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre?' (Mark xvi. 3.) The stone too, when rolled aside, as we saw it, into its niche or recess, would form precisely such a seat as one might sit on by the grave's mouth; thereby suggesting to us the position that was most probably occupied by the angel beside the empty tomb of our Lord, when the women of Galilee drew near. The lowness, also, of the door was in perfect harmony with what we are told of Mary Magdalene, that she stooped down' in order to look into the sepulchre. Few will be at any loss to understand what an amount of additional interest circumstances like these gave to this ancient Hebrew tomb." EASTERN CRIPPLES BEGGING. "And a certain man was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple."-Acts iii. 2. THE custom here referred to, we are told by one eastern traveller, still prevails at Damascus during the hours of public prayers on sabbath mornings, and on frequent stated seasons during the week. It is that of the poor and diseased, lame and blind, being gathered about the church doors, to solicit alms. The feeble and blind are often led to these public places, and the lame are some times literally "carried" on the shoulders of some "good Samaritan" friend. Bartimeus-like blind persons are often seen "by the wayside begging," and, in some instances, occupying the same position from year to year. scene. COMING. COMING! It is dreary winter now. The sky is often darkened and obscured by thick, heavy clouds. The snow and rain are driven about by the fitful wind. The days are short, and but seldom does the warm sunshine gladden the cheerless But it will not be always winter. Spring is coming, with her green leaves, and gay blossoms; with her beautiful flowers, and genial sunshine. And summer is coming, with her long days, and bright skies; with her singing birds and happy hours; when the streamlet will dance lightly over its rocky bed, and join all nature in a song of praise to the Almighty giver of all good. Then spring and summer will make up for all the cold, dark days of winter, and they will seem all the more pleasant on account of the contrast with the past. Coming! Many young people look forward with great anticipations of delight to the time when they shall be men and women. They think that then they shall have more liberty, more happiness; or perhaps they hope they may be able to do more good. Vain hope! as, young friends, you will soon find out, for that time is coming very swiftly. Coming! Yes, spring and summer are fast coming; but when they are here, how soon they will be gone again! Gone for ever! And then the cold winter will once more appear, with its icicles and snows,-its east wind and leafless trees. Coming! Youthful reader, the springtime of your life is come. Your summer is on its way; and beyond that is the dark, frowning winter. When that is come, shall you be ready for it? You will then look back upon your past life, and it will seem to you very short. You will wonder how it passed so quickly, without your observing it. You are now passing onward, and while admiring the beauty of the scene you leave behind you, you forget how swiftly you are hastening to the winter of life. And if that winter has no pleasant thoughts of a well-spent spring and summer, how dismal will it be! If there are no seeds sown in the early part of your lives, where will be the fruits which ought to nourish you during old age? Oh! remember that spring is the sowing time. Coming! In your case, there is something coming beyond the winter,—not another year, with its varying scenes,— but an Eternity. After you have hastened through all the seasons of your life, you will arrive at the grave; and after that is passed, a new scene will await you, which will last for ever. Will that, dear reader, be a scene of endless joy, or endless woe? Coming! Yes, the end of all earthly things is coming. Oh, may you all, when this life is over, assemble to enjoy a never ending spring in the mansions of glory above! CARDIFFIAN. A REVERIE. I DREAMED of my childhood's early home, Of the forest, in all its stately gloom, Where, fearless and free, I delighted to roam So careless of all that might sorrow impart,— Long years have rolled on, and those pleasures seem, Like the fitful moonbeam's transient gleam On the bosom of Lethe's turbid stream; And 'tis hard to wake from that blissful dream Of youth and its joys renewed. Yet why should I wish to be ever a child, So joyous and free from care, When, amid the many by sin beguiled, I might rescue some from their wanderings wild, His blessing and smiles to share. O Father, forgive the desire for rest, And plant such an energy now in my breast, CRAB BATTLES IN THE AQUARIUM. "On the other side, in one consort there sate Cruell Revenge and rancorous Despight, While gnawing Jealousy, out of their Sitting alone, his bitter lips did bight; did fly, MOST of our readers have, doubtless, seen some of the numerous "happy families" exhibited in the streets of London, consisting of most incongruous assortments of the animal creation, all huddled together in the same gigantic cage, and all looking as miserable and woe-begone as happy families could easily do under any circumstances; and yet we suspect the lot of these poor |