indulged in all those beautiful visions of hope, that throng the heart of him who has tasted but little of the gall of disappointment. Spring, in her youthful gaiety, invited him to her seeming amaranthine bowers of bliss, and appeared to deck the landscape with bloom and beauty, but to woo his soul to happiness. It has been said, that the pleasure which proceeds from the imagination is always greater than that which is ever realized. But we are the creatures of hope; and though the exalted flights of fancy are often checked and mortified, yet there are few who do not at times give loose to their reasoning powers, and revel in such an innocent source of gratification. So Charles felt, as his vehicle rolled on, and he was indulging in a pleasing reverie. First, came the favourite Tray, which used to be the companion of all his solitary rambles, leaping and fawning with every demonstration of joy. Then his brother and friend, endeared to him by every bond of affection and sympathy Edward was the very soul of sensibility. Retired and modest, he possessed those qualities, which are never found but by a diligent search, but which, in the end, greatly increase our admiration. He resembled some blushing violet, whose charms are hidden beneath a bed of leaves, but when brought forth to the inquiring eye, its sweetness gratifies, and its modesty pleases. Mild and unobtrusive; such an one as Gray pictured to himself, when he so felicitously used the metaphor

"Fall many a gem of purest ray serene

The dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear;
Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,
And waste its sweetness in the desert air."

It is not, then, surprising that Charles, though entirely of a different cast, should be so firmly attached to his brother Edward for Providence has wisely ordained, that often when two minds, in many respects completely opposite, meet together, they are the most indissolubly united; especially when affection cements the union. Thus have we seen the woodbine entwined with the rose. Where strength is deficient in the one, it repays the other with the compensation of beauty and elegance. So close is the endearment, that the rude hand which separates them, leaves both perhaps to pine away and die.

Next in imagination came his sister, in all the loveliness and gaiety of youth; partaking of the natural susceptibility of the sex, enlivened by her buoyancy of spirit; yet graceful even in the tenderness of grief. Last of all, approached his aged parents, venerable in years; the 'mother yielding

to transports of joy, while the father stood absorbed in contemplation, with a smile of satisfaction. In the background were the faithful servants, who had spent the greater part of their lives in the service of the family, waiting to be recognized.

Beattie.

Such were the pleasing thoughts of Charles, as he drew near the family seat; but these were dissipated by the surrounding prospect, which forcibly brought to his mind the events of seasons long past, but never to be forgotten; where he had sported many a day in the path of childhood and youth, as the minstrel sweetly sings, "Warbling and sauntering carelessly along; Where every face was innocent and gay, Each vale romantic, tuneful every tongue." On yonder eminence, amid the shade of a bower, was the spot where he had read, mused, and studied with all the delight of boyhood; and there, Edward, with the ingenuity of an artist, had sketched many a pleasing landscape. In those verdant meadows, and through that copse, flowed the rippling brook, upon whose banks they had often sat. Within that grove was the favourite walk, called, by the association of ideas, "Mackenzie's Walk." For here had they often perused with delight, and conversed on the elegance and beauty of that author's compositions.

Wishing to afford the inmates the pleasure of a surprise, Charles left the chaise at the end of the avenue, and walked to the house. As he drew near, all seemed silent as the tomb. His favourite Tray, indeed, appeared, by an instinctive impulse, to be aware of his arrival, and went forth to meet him. But there seemed to be expressed, amid the caresses of his joy, a melancholy howl, which immediately caught his young master's attention. Springing forward with the most acute anxiety, he followed the dog to the house. The windows were closed, and the curtains drawn-the dreadful reality poured upon his brain-"I have lost some dear object," exclaimed he to himself. "Oh, merciful Heaven! support me under the trial. Well do I know that whom thou lovest thou chastenest, and that the phial of affliction, though bitter in its draught, is productive of the best effects. Then teach me to submit to thy decrees." A servant opened the hall door, but recognized her young master only by a mournful smile.

"What has happened?" asked the agonized Charles. Speak, tell me what has happened." The domestic could only reply, "Poor master Edward! Your poor, dear brother, sir." Charles followed her up stairs, where Edward indeed lay a

corpse. The lid of the coffin was, being screwed on when he entered. The work men ceased their operations. The afflicted brother tore away the covering, to gaze on the features of his beloved Edward. Pale and thoughtful as usual-the hectic flush had departed from his cheek. Charles knelt, to kiss his marble features; a sigh struggled from his heart; a tear stole from his eye. He appeared to be momentarily lost in silent communion with his Maker. Forgetful of the presence of bystanders, his hands were clasped, while his lips quivered with the most mournful ejaculations. One of the men who stood near, possessed of a feeling heart under a rough exterior, offered the words of comfort "There was hope in his death," said he; "he was a good young man-he died like a Christian, and may my last end be like his!" "It is true," returned Charles; "he is gone to a better world." "Yes, sir," continued the other, "a world where neither moth nor rust can corrupt, or thieves break through and steal."

His heart was too full to converse, and his grief too great to be consoled. Bidding adieu to the remains of his brother, Charles sought the rest of the family. His sister, who till then had scarcely known sorrow, was arrayed in a sable garb. Upon their meeting she burst into tears, and fell into her brother's arms. He could scarcely hope to give that consolation which he himself had refused, but wiped away the falling tears. "Oh! what has passed," exclaimed he, “since I have left my home! Little thought I, that our meeting would be clouded by so melancholy an event." The reflection momentarily overpowered both. However, endeavouring to assume a cheerful countenance, his sister led him to his disconsolate parents. His mother at first seemed to forget the loss of one son, in the return of another. Then, as if recollecting herself, she would break out into incoherent expressions, "My dear Edward! My darling boy!" But the father, venerable even in sorrow, though silently brooding over his misfortune, attempted to pacify her, and teach her to yield to the decrees of Providence. Yet it was not difficult to trace paternal feelings in those expressions of grief which disturbed the look of resignation.

The funeral procession was in a short time prepared. The sable hearse, decked with nodding plumes, silently proceeded to the village churchyard; and, it may be imagined, the hearts of the mourners were engaged in the most serious reflections. Many were the villagers whom his benevo

lent disposition had attached to him, that followed the mournful train of the deceased. Sincere was their sorrow; indeed, their honest simplicity had scarcely learned to feign. Now behold him consigned to the grave, while over his remains,

"Some frail memorial still erected nigh,"

proclaims the place of his interment.

Here would Charles delight to retire, and ponder upon the instability of human life; to imagine that, though all their favourite scenes of resort seemed lonely and deserted, now he was no more, yet this hallowed spot might be rendered doubly dear by the presence of his spirit; that though his earthly form was enshrouded in the tomb, yet his presiding angel might hover near those remains which were at once guarded and blessed. Here, in his melancholy mood, would he hold sweet converse with the soul of the departed. Here, secluded from the world, would he give up his entire thoughts to dwell upon the bliss of an hereafter, when (if we know our friends in heaven) their beings might again be assimilated. Here, too, would he confess the truth of that which was engraven on his tomb-"Childhood and Youth are vanity." J. A. B.

Beaconsfield.

MISSIONARY COMMUNICATIONS.

AN absence of a great number of years had rendered London strange to me, and me a stranger in London, when I visited this metropolis, with a view of permanently taking up my residence therein.

Having every where, during my travels, beheld the impiety and wretchedness of the Hebrews, as a people, and the awful influence of their unceasing blasphemies, creating and confirming infidels in their irreligious principles and practices, and long laboured to induce them to flee from the wrath to come; I was desirous, immediately on my arrival, of reviewing their condition in the British metropolis. In order to know a people, I conceive it is needful to behold them amidst their domestic relations; as it is there, and perhaps there alone, that they are themselves. Unwarped by the numerous personifications, put on for the moment during an itinerant existence amongst strangers, amidst the family circle, and in the fraternity of kindred souls, the man comes out from behind the mask, and in his proper person stands confest before you.

In London there are districts where the Hebrews live in communities of hundreds, yea, even thousands, with only a very slight

intermixture of Gentiles; and in some cases without any alloy, from house to house, all are Hebrews. There the countenance, the manner, the voice, the pursuits, the exterior and interior economy of their dwelling -all, and almost equally so, are national "Ben-Israel" is written upon the whole. There I visited the chosen people, beheld their impiety and misery, and resolved to devote my future leisure to that labour of love, which beholds the perishing sinner, yearns over his wretchedness, and ceases not to strive and pray, if haply one of these brands may be snatched from the burning.

Could I visit the Hebrews empty-handed? No. I saw every where lacking, humility, and devotion, the fear of the Lord, the knowledge of His will, and conformity to His holy law. One thing is needful, I exclaimed, viz. the Bible-the Old and the New Testament. To these, thousands of Hebrews are strangers, and to both almost equally alike. Providing these, and also portions of them, in the form of tracts, with the name of Jesus, the Redeemer of men, upon my lips, I moved on, amidst the Jews' quarter, from house to house, and every where prayed that He, who came to save, would visit these wanderers from His fold, with salvation.

That bold and haughty feature in the soul of man, which scornfully dictates to a fellow man, "Stand aside; for I am more holy than thou!" I found every where rampant in these British sons of Israel; who contumeliously scoffed and blasphemed, even to the harrowing up of my soul. Jesus, the Christ of God, whom I adorethe Son of God, the Redeemer of men, whose Name is like ointment poured forth to my soul; with these was Jesus of Nazareth, upon whose name opprobrium hung, and upon whom was poured scorn-scorn not to be expressed without contemptuous spitting. Instead of mild contention for truth, the clamour of malevolence and despite arose, like the confusions of Babel, and ran from street to street, from court to court, from house to house, and from man to man; yea, even the very children took up the scorning, and clamorously pursued the hated object, who had thus protruded himself upon them in their own quarter. I ventured, and again and again met this scorning, until weariness of abuse induced a calm; yet, ever and anon, the Babel rearises, even to this day.

With the sons of Jacob, the servant must not expect to be more highly favoured than his Lord. "He made Himself of no reputation, He humbled Himself, leaving us an example, that we should follow in His

steps; He became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross;" and lowly must they bow who name His Name in the midst of Israel. Yet shall that day arrive when, "at the Name of Jesus, every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Then shall the servant rejoice with his Lord; but in the meantime he is called to labour and suffer for His sake. W. COLDWELL.

NOTES ON SIR H. DAVY'S ELEVENTH LECTURE, DELIVERED IN DUBLIN, NOVEMBER 27, 1810.

THE second class of inflammable bodies are the metals; by the action of the air, heat, or by the first class, viz. oxygen and oxymuriatic acid gas, they are altered in their appearance, and from having an opaque lustre, malleability, and ductility, they are reduced to a white and vitreous powder.

This, according to the hypothesis of Professor Davy, is effected in each of them in proportion to their relation to positive electricity, making the acids so far negative to them; and if this is true, the metals which are most positive will act most in the air; and those which are most negative will act least. Zinc, which is in the highest degree positive, acts accordingly.

Hence, the most negative are least combustible; for the intensity of combustion depends on the degree of positive electricity with respect to the combining body.

From this examination it is found, that the attraction of metals for oxygen is nearly in the ratio of their specific gravities; and this corroborates the hypothesis, that chemical and electrical powers flow from one cause or primary law of attraction. Hence, gold is not dissolved or oxidated by nitric acid, because oxygen has more attraction for nitre than for gold; but zinc, or tin, is dissolved in it so quickly, as to cause combustion; and in the same ratio metals are precipitated from solution.

A solution of copper in aquafortis is precipitated by a bit of iron, and, from a clear blue liquor, the copper in powder falls down and coats the iron, by the superior attraction which the oxygen of the nitre has for it or spill some solution on a plate of iron, it is coppered. Iron is found positive to copper, and copper negative to iron. Copper precipitates mercury by the same law.

Whatever is in the highest degree positive precipitates the rest, and whatever is

positive to another, precipitates it.-Exper. The smoking, liquor of Libavius, and the oils of metals, mentioned by the older che mists, were anticipations of the oxymuriatic gas in combination with copper and other metals.

The new metals, such as potasium having more affinity for oxygen than the old, are found to precipitate them.-Exper. Potasium precipitates iron.

The composition of phosphorus and oxymuriatic gas, with potasium on one part, and oxymuriatic gas with sulphur on the other part, on the contact of the onetwentieth part of a grain of each, explode as loud as a pistol-shot.

Charcoal revives metals from their oxides; it has no action on oxymuriatic gas, and therefore cannot affect its combinations.

All metals are determined to the negative side. Earths of silex and alumine, when slightly moistened with water, give metal by joining iron wire to it, from which it may be separated, but it is recomposed into earth it does not join with mercury as soda; but the, lecturer, employed, potasium, which has a great affinity for silex and alumine, from which he concluded their metals have affinity to it. He passed potasium in vapour through a tube of platina into dry silex, and then ignited it; some potasium ascended, and was destroyed. Leaving a glass of potasium and silex in the midst of this glass, he saw a dark pod, which he examined by a microscope, and found it a metal of silex, which in water recomposed its earth. It is like the new metal found in North America, called Columbia, in its refractory disunited state.

Quicklime and magnesia afford better results in the same process, with the addition of mercury. The metal of lime has a dark grey lustre, and recomposes lime in water: it is heavier than water. Strontites afforded metal in like manner, but barytes did not.

Soon after Professor Davy made potasium, he fell sick, and the French prosecuted his discovery, making it in large quantities in a crooked gun-barrel, by layers of potash and charcoal; by a white heat at one end, they got potasium at the other end. This invention is improved by cutting the barrel, and fixing screws and safety-tubes. This mode affords sodium also in sufficient quantity for experiment.

The potasium the French made was not perfect; it was mixed with charcoal, and can be called only a pyrophilus. The French said potasium was a sulphuret of potash, but after two years' discussion they gave up.

2D. SERIES. NO. 1.-VOL. I.

Pearlash and charcoal in a tube of porcelain ignited, make pyrophilus, or impure sodium. Charcoal and potasium combined, burn in air, and is brilliant in oxygen; in water it is recomposed.

Pyrophilus, which was discovered 140 years ago, might have led to the search for potasium.- Exper. Calcine alum and sugar in a bottle to redness, and when the blue flame ceases, it is made. This takes fire on exposure to air: potash and sulphur, calcined together in the same way, will also burn on exposure to the air.

The component parts of alum are potash, alumine, and sulphuric acid.

No pyrophilus can be made without alkali in some form.

Potash and oxide of tellurium combine by a spirit, lamp-heat. Potasium in a retort, exhausted, and then affixed to a bottle of carbonic acid gas, decomposes the gas; the charcoal is separated from the acid, and coats the side of the retort.

Potash contains 16 per cent. of water.
Soda contains water and pure alkali.
Oxide of arsenic becomes an acid in

water.

Potasium and mercury, with some heat, form an amalgam, which, being poured out, is, when cool, quite hard, and appears in solid crystals. In water it revives in the form of mercury and potash.

Alkali, in a platina cup, in a furnace with a strong blast, burns in flame, on the arsenical acid being poured in; and, holding a glass over it, water is caught in it, for the arsenical acid decomposes the water from the potash.

Boracic acid on red-hot soda produces water in the same manner.

Sodium is made in a very small quantity by the charcoal method; but by using two parts of potasium, one of sodium is easily made.— Exper. Potasium decomposes common salt, and the result is sodium; for the gas does not hold the metal in solution, but the gas of potasium holds the hydrogen, and would burn as inflammable air.

Another French theory was, that potasium is a compound of hydrogen and potash.-Erper. Burn potasium in oxymuriatic gas. If it was a compound, water must be disengaged: but this is not the case; hence, it is SIMPLE. It may be asked, Why is potasium negative, if it combines with oxygen?

Being slowly burned in air, it is oxygenized, and will then give its superfluous oxygen to zinc, or other superior attraction of oxygen, and it becomes potash.

The hyper-oxide of potasium and sodium are of an orange colour.

Silex and alumine metals give a hardness to metallic alloys; and hence they may be of use to the arts.

Cast-iron is made malleable by charcoal; and this process being examined, it appears to take from the cast-iron something equivalent to the metal of silex.

Metal ore is an improper name for the new metals. Potasium, the lightest, is no lighter, compared to tin, than tin is to platina.

Mercury and copper, with potasium, make an illustrious brass.

Volcanoes and earthquakes have been explained by sulphur and iron. But if this was true, lava should be sulphate of iron, which is not the case; for lava, and other volcanic productions, are silex and other earths. It is therefore a synthesis, that the state of these in the earth was silex metals, or metals of earth; and, when they take fire, become agitated and hot, pouring out their great fluid streams; cooling in that form exactly as the new metals do.

It is calculated that the density of the earth is greater than if it was all earth and stone; and the proportion agrees with the supposition that the interior of the globe is metal of earth.-Erper. Potasium, in pipe-clay, does not ignite until wet, and it then bursts out like a volcano.

So of meteoric stones. Professor Davy thinks there are earthy metallic comets, which, coming into moist air, break off flakes ignited as fire-balls, and when cool are vitreous stones.-Exper. Hurl a wet piece of potasium through the room, it throws off vitreous pieces.

QUESTIONS ANSWERED RELATIVE TO THE MYTHOLOGICAL PERSUASION OF THE CANDIANS, IN THE ISLAND OF CEYLON.

THE Dutch paper, of which the following is a translation, is one of the documents relative to the doctrines of the Budhu religion, as professed at Ceylon, which is in the extensive and valuable collection of papers explanatory of the history and the people of that important island, in the possession of Sir A. Johnston, late chief. justice, and president of his Majesty's council on Ceylon; and, at our request, is published with his permission.

Many important advantages have been derived by the British government from the manner in which the right of sitting upon juries, and that of being tried by juries of their own caste, have been introduced. The first time it was ever done in India was amongst the natives of Ceylon, of every

caste and of every religious persuasion, by Sir A. Johnston, when chief justice, and president of his Majesty's council on that island.

Amongst other advantages, one of the most important is, the facility it affords the members of the government, and particularly the judges of the supreme court, of obtaining, from the native jurymen themselves, the most valuable and the most authentic information relative to the history, religion, manners, and customs of the people of the country.

According to a rule made by Sir Alexander Johnston, all the jurymen, who are for the most part men of the greatest intelligence, and of the highest influence in each of the provinces of Ceylon, were required, at every session held in each province, publicly to lay before Sir Alexander Johnston, in the presence, and subject to the correction, of all the people of the province, assembled in the court, such authentic information relative to the religion, morals, and prejudices of the people, as might enable him thoroughly to comprehend the character of the inhabitants, and the principles which influenced their conduct.

On one of these occasions, upon Sir Alexander inquiring into the state of the doctrines of the Buddhu religion as they prevailed amonst the followers of Buddhu on Ceylon, who amount to about half a million of people, some very intelligent jurymen publicly gave him the Dutch original, of which the following is a translation, as containing, according to their knowledge and observation, a very correct view of the principles of the Buddhu religion, as they prevail amongst the common people of Ceylon.

This paper is an account, in Question and Answer, of an inquiry made at the time of the Dutch government in Ceylon, by a Dutch clergyman, from some of the most eminent Buddhu priests on the island, relative to the doctrines which prevailed amongst those natives who professed that religion.

Query. Do the learned acknowledge a Most High God, Supreme Being, and how do they describe the same?

Answer. No; at least, one cannot draw that inference from their writings: they acknowledge one Being, who is the first and chief of all gods, and they say that he, as well as his servants, have no flesh nor bone, but, however, has shining skin, teeth in the mouth, and hair on the head, and body, which are not to be felt, but are merely