Not while the murmur of the mountain bee

Greets my dull ear with music in its tone;-
Pale sickness dims my eye and clouds my brow-
I am content to die-but oh! not now!

Summer is gone; and autumn's soberer hues
Tint the ripe fruits, and gild the waving corn;
The huntsman swift the flying game pursues,
Shouts the halloo, and winds his eager horn,
"Spare me awhile, to wander forth and gaze
On the broad meadows and the quiet stream-
To watch in silence while the evening rays

Slant through the fading trees with ruddy gleam
Cooler the breezes play around my brow-

I am content to die-but oh! not not now!"

The bleak wind whistles; snow showers far and near
Drift without echo to the whitening ground;
Autumn hath passed away, and cold and drear,
Winter stalks on with frozen mantle bound:
Yet still that prayer ascends. "Oh! laughingly
My little brothers round the warm hearth crowd,
Our home fire blazes broad, and bright, and high,
And the roof rings with voices light and loud:
Spare me awhile! raise up my drooping brow!
I am content to die-but oh! not now!"

LINES BY BISHOP HORNE.

SWEET day, so cool, so calm, so bright,
Bridal of earth and sky,

The dew shall weep thy fall to-night,
For thou, alas! must die!

Sweet rose, in air whose odours wave,
And colour charms the eye,

Thy root is ever in its grave,
And thou, alas! must die!

Sweet spring, of days and roses made,
Whose charms for beauty vie,

Thy days depart, thy roses fade-
Thou, too, alas! must die!

Be wise, then, Christian, while you may,
For swiftly time is flying;
The thoughtless man may laugh to-day,
To-morrow may be dying!

2

ON RAIN.

BEHOLD how lovely shine the gems of rain,
Like sparkling diamonds on the glittering plain;
How, hanging on the flow'ring shrubs they blaze,
And dart beneath the leaves their silver rays,

The plants refresh'd, their flowers to Heaven disclose,
As grateful for the good its hand bestows.

J

D

Ir is a distinguished feature in the history of the Christian Religion, that, while other systems have been propagated by the sword, or by the arm of civil power, it owes its establishment, in almost every instance, to the influence of reason and persuasion-to the efforts of Missionaries. Thus, in the sixth century, Christianity was introduced among the Saxons of England, by Augustine and his brother Missionaries, and in the same manner the German Church was established in the eighth century. As we consider authentic accounts of Missionary proceedings interesting not only on these but on many other accounts, we have drawn for our readers from the Missionary Register, the following account, which illustrates some of the singular superstitions of the Hindoos, and affords the pleasing prospect of the conversion of many of those people to the true faith.

By the kindness of a friend, lately returned from India, (say the Editors of the Missionary Register,) we have been enabled to give, from a drawing made on the spot, an engraving of a celebrated Hindoo temple at Goruckhnath, about two miles from Goruckhpore. This temple is situated in the midst of a beautiful and extensive forest of mango-trees; and is a place of much celebrity among the Hindoos, who resort to it, not only from the surrounding districts, but even from the remote provinces of India. The tree on the left is the celebrated banian tree, with its fibres shooting toward the ground

A chief priest, called a Mohunt, and a number of de votees, are connected with this temple; and are maintained by a large revenue derived from lands and other sources. The devotees wander over the country, dressed in garments of a salmon-colour, for the double purpose of extending the tenets peculiar to this sect of Hindoos, and of collecting the contributions of the people in support of the temple and its worship.

The peculiar feature of this superstition is, that there is no visible representation of the supposed deity; his influence, it is imagined, presides; while his seat, which has no idol figure on it, is an object of idolatrous reve,

rence.

Once a week, on a fixed day, the chief priest holds a kind of religious levee in the verandah of the temple. On these occasions several handsome carpets are spread near the central door, on which is placed a large cylindrical pillow. Upon this the Mohunt reclines clothed in a variegated silk dress. A large concourse of disciples attend; each of whom, in regular order, ascends the steps of the verandah, and advances toward the entrance: having deposited his offering on the shrine, he retires, rings a bell hung up for the purpose immediately above the door, makes his obeisance to the chief priest, and then mingles with the crowd assembled in the quadrangle in front. Rajahs, and other persons of rank or influence, usually occupy a post of honour near the Mohunt, after they have done homage at the shrine; while ordinary worshippers retire, satisfied with a slight inclination of the hand, or a condescending recognition from the priest.

From Goruckhpore, the Rev. Michael Wilkinson, of the Church Missionary Society, visits Goruckhnath, at those seasons when the greatest number of Heathen resort to it, distributing the Scriptures and religious tracts in considerable numbers, and sometimes holding conversation with the people. Of one of these visits he thus writes:

"On entering the place, I made toward the temple, where a number of people were sitting, On approaching