Society have been, and are still making, may be eminently successful; that the time may soon come when nations shall not strive with nations, but when warriors, and those who delight in war, shall "beat their swords into plough-shares and their spears into pruning-hooks."

We think we have complied with your request in sending you a longer letter than the one we received from you: and conclude with expressing a sincere hope that, though (as you observe) we shall most likely "go through life by widely different roads," yet we shall, at the end, all "meet in Heaven."-We remain, dear brothers and sisters, yours very affectionately,

(Here follow the signatures.)

KNOW."

"READ AND YOU WILL tition, he confessed he owed all the advantages he ever gained from books.

EARLY CONVERSION.

SIR WILLIAM JONES was one of the most eminent scholars and excellent men of his age. When he was a little boy, his inquisitive disposition led him to ask a IF I could envy any one lawgreat many questions, and his fully, I should those that are good mother used to say to him, converted to God in their youth; "Read, and then you will know." they escape much sorrow; and, To this maxim, impressed upon like Jacob, carry off the blessing his memory by frequent repe- betimes.-Christian Souvenir.

POETRY.

TIME IS LIKE A RIVER.

TIME is like a river,
Ceaseless in its flow;
Never backward, never,
Is it known to go.
But for ever onward,
Like a living thing,
And with power resistless,
Swayeth every thing.

Sunny days and shadows

Alternate come and go,

Resembling joy and sadness,
In life's perpetual flow.
Onward and for ever,

Vastly and sublime,
Never backward, never,
Crieth Father Time.

Such is the great lesson

Impressed on all below, That time is like a river, Ceaseless in its flow.

Saturday Rambler.

OUR YOUTHS' DEPARTMENT.

PAGODAS IN CHINA AND INDIA.

A PAGODA is a heathen temple or tower. In China and India these buildings are very numerous, and present a style of architecture widely different from that which is seen in the Western world. Amongst these stately edifices, there is one at Nankin famous for its magnitude and beauty. This structure was erected in the fifteenth century. It is covered with porcelain tiles, and on that account is called the porcelain tower. The natives tell us that the work of erection occupied a period of nineteen years. The building consists of nine stories of variegated porcelain, and its height is about 350 feet, with a pine-apple of gilt copper at the summit. Above each of the roofs is the head of a dragon, from which, supported by iron rods, hang eight small bells; and below, at the right angles, are eighty bells, making in all 152. On the outside of the nine stages there are 128 lamps, and below, in the centre of the eight-sided hall, twelve porcelain lamps. On the top are two copper boilers, weighing 1200 lbs., and a dish of 600 lbs. weight; placed there in order constantly to avert human calamities. This pagoda has been the glory of the ages since Yung-lo rebuilt and beautified it; and, as a monument of imperial gratitude, it is called "The Temple of Gratitude." The expense of its erection was 2,485,484 taels of silver.

There are in the pagoda, as a charm against malignant influences, one carbuncle; as a preservative from water, one pearl; from fire, one pearl; from wind, one pearl; from dust, one pearl; with several Chinese translations of Sanscrit books relating to Buddha and Buddhism. The pagoda has never, it is said, needed repair ((except on one occasion, when it was struck by lightning), but retains all the freshness of a newly-erected building. The priests illuminate the edifice. on festive occasions, by lanterns made of thin oyster shells, placed at each of the eight angles of every story. The effect of the subdued light on the highly reflective surface of the tower is very striking and beautiful. Colonel Cunynghame has the reputation of being the first European visitor to this splendid temple, and observes: "We examined the beautiful porcelain with which the exterior of the building is covered as well as the interior. The neat and finished way in which

these tiles are joined together gives to the whole, at a very short distance, an appearance of being actually made of one entire piece. The many-coloured tiles used in its manufacture are diversified with a thousand curious and grotesque patterns." Le Comte also visited this famous monument of Chinese skill and superstition, and he remarks: "The wall at the bottom is at least twelve feet thick. The staircase is narrow and difficult of ascent, the steps being very high. The ceiling of each room is beautified with paintings, and the walls of the upper rooms have several niches full of carved idols.

In Mr. Edwards's "Wonderful Things," there are brief descriptions of several other celebrated pagodas of India.

"The Pagoda of Sidamburam, in the Carnatic, is esteemed a master-piece of architecture. It is encircled with a high wall of blue stone. Each of the three gates is surmounted with a pyramid 120 feet high, built with large stones above forty feet long and more than five square, all covered with plates of copper, and adorned with a variety of figures neatly executed. The whole structure extends 1,332 feet in one direction, and 936 in another. The circumference forms a vast gallery, divided into apartments, in which the Brahmins live. In the area of the temple there is a large pool, skirted on three of its sides with a beautiful gallery supported by columns. A broad stair of fine red granite leads down from each of these galleries to the pool. On the side opposite to the water there is a magnificent hall, ornamented with 999 columns of blue granite, covered with sculptures representing the principal Hindu deities. One of the greatest curiosities of this pagoda is an immense granite chain of exquisite workmanship, extending from four points of the circumference of the cupola to the nave, and forming four festoons 137 feet long, with the ends held by four enormous wedge-shaped stones belonging to the arch. Each link is somewhat more than three feet in length, and the whole of a beautiful resplendent polish.

"The Pagoda of Tanjore is reckoned the finest specimen in India of a pyramidical temple. Its grand tower is 199 feet in height, rising from the ground by twelve successive stages. In a covered area is a bull carved in black granite, sixteen feet in length by twelve and a half feet in height, esteemed one of the best works of Hindu art.

"The Pagoda of Seringham, an island opposite Trichinopoly, is pre-eminent in magnitude and sanctity, being about FOUR MILES IN CIRCUMFERENCE! There are seven successive inclosures or walls, twenty-five feet high and four feet thick, and 350 feet distant from each other. Some of the stones forming the columns of its gateways are thirty-three feet long, and five feet in diameter; those which form the roof are still larger. The innermost shrine has never been violated by any hostile power;

nor has any European ever been admitted. It is visited by crowds of pilgrims and penitents from all parts of India. The priests and their families once formed a population of 40,000 souls, maintained by the offerings of superstition. Here, as in all the other great pagodas of India (says a traveller), the Brahmins live in a subordination which knows no resistance, and slumber in a voluptuousness which knows no wants.'

"The Pagoda of Madura, also, with its spacious areas, and four colossal porticos, each a pyramid of ten stories, covers an extent of ground almost sufficient for the site of a town!

"The Temple of the Golden Supreme, in Birmah, is the most famous building in the Birman empire. It boasts of high antiquity, and is raised on successive terraces in a manner similar to the religious structures of the Mexicans. It stands on an apparently artificial hill, the sides of which are sloped into two terraces, and ascended by steps of hewn stone. On the second terrace is the pagoda, a pyramidal building of brick and mortar, without excavation or aperture of any sort! It is octagonal at the base, each side measuring 162 feet, and diminishing in breadth abruptly till it becomes of a spiral form. Its entire height from the ground is 360 feet. It is surrounded by two rows of small spires, a great variety of mouldings, ornaments in stucco, &c.; the whole being crowned with the tee, a sort of umbrella of open iron-work, gilt, fifty-six feet in circumference, surrounded by a number of small bells, and from the centre of which rises a rod with a gilded pennant. There are also smaller temples, miniatures of the large, at all the angles of the upper terrace, various saloons embellished with flowering and gilding, numerous sculptures, idols, flying pennants, bells, and dwellings for priests on the lower terrace. The erection of temples and images forms the grand operation to which the art and industry of the Birmans is directed. Major Symes considers the grand Kioum or monastery, the residence of the head of the Birman church, as perhaps the most magnificent structure in the universe!

It is melancholy to reflect that these splendid edifices are the proud monuments of idolatry, erected at the instigation of Satan, to usurp the honours and the homage of the Most High; but the period is foretold, and its arrival is hastening, when idolatry shall be universally overthrown, and the worship of the true God be everywhere established. We believe that present events in India and China are preparing the way for this glorious event. Let us earnestly pray that very soon every idol may be dethroned, and the Saviour's name be known and believingly acknowledged by all the millions of our world.