One would rather have expected, that the natural reflection on reading such proposals as these, would have been, how true was the remark of St. Paul, of these great philosophers, that professing themselves to be wise, they became fools." Here is the greatest name among the ancients, seriously proposing to deprive the people of his model commonwealth of all the highest privileges of man, as "made in the image of God," and to place him by law in the position and category of a beast!

These suppressions of truth, these customary misrepresentations of fact, necessarily hamper and limit such an argument as Mr. Boyd was conducting. He might not describe the ancient heathen, or even the best of them, in their true colours; he might not speak of them, however soberly and dispassionately, as they really were, and as they appeared, in daily life, to the holy angels;-to do this would be too terrible. It would demand the use of language which Christianity itself has banished from society (Ephes. v. 3, 12). And thus, in contending with the admirers and partisans of heathenism, the advocate of Christianity enters the lists with one arm confined. All on the one side is known, and open to criticism; but on the other, all is disguised and kept under a mask. The abominations of paganism are scarcely imagined by the merely English student, and we must not speak one-tenth of the truth concerning them. Even if the opponents could be silenced by the mere exhibition of the facts, the victory so obtained might cost more than it was worth.

Mr. Boyd has abstained from such a conflict as this. He has contented himself with the simple disproof of the modern notion, that, by intuition, the heathen, whether of ancient or recent times, either did or could discover for himself the true God, the rule of a virtuous life, and the hope of immortality. He has conducted the argument with temperance and moderation, but with power and earnestness also; and the claims of intuition, under the light which he throws upon them, vanish like the birds of night on the appearance of sunshine, and leave only a feeling of astonishment on the reader's mind, that pretensions so baseless and so absurd should ever have been seriously advanced.

The outline of the sermon is a very natural and plain one. The preacher addresses himself to the inquiry, after a brief statement of the question,-Whether immortality, properly so called, was discovered by heathen philosophy. Next, whether God, in His nature and attributes, was ever known to the Greeks and Romans, or to the Brahmins and Buddhists, or to the barbarians of Caffraria or Polynesia. And thirdly, whether a Moral Law, of any value or certainty, was established, either by ancient Paganism, or by semi-civilized Paganism, or by barbarous Paganism. The answer in each case is convinc

ingly in the negative, and thus the way is left open for the establishment of the truth of the text, that "Life and immortality were brought to light by the Gospel." A discourse more full and comprehensive, within such narrow limits, is scarcely to be found in our modern theological literature; and we are glad to greet it, in this enlarged form, as deserving a prominent place in any well-selected library.

THE DELIVERANCE OF ABBEOKUTA.

(See the Church Missionary Intelligencer, June, 1864.)
THE Tenge* rushed out, like a bear from the wood,
His Amazons† thirsting for plunder and blood;
And the hosts of Dahomey, like locusts in bands,
Are hid in the clouds of the Yorubat sands.

He said, in the pride and the boast of his heart,
"At length on the prey that escaped us we dart;
The blackness of darkness our march shall conceal,
And none to the Egba§ his danger reveal.

"We'll spring on the town of the rocks|| by surprise,
Regardless alike of their tears and their cries;
The white-men, that come from afar with their book,
We'll catch them alive, and impale on the hook. T
"Their boasted Bashorum,** with all that presume
To lift up the head, to destruction we doom;
We'll keep up the customs, while thousands expire,
A hecatombtt made to the soul of my sire!"
Thus breathing out slaughter and arrogant boast,
The King of Dahomey draws near with his host;
Hark! hark!‡‡ 'tis the signal that sounds from the wall,
And Egba's brave children respond to the call.

* The Tenge is the title of the despots of Dahomey.

They train a band of female soldiers, who are generally the fiercest of all their forces.

The town which they went to be. siege is in the Yoruba country.

§ Abbeokuta is peopled almost entirely by the Egba tribe.

The "place of a stone," or the "town of a rock," is the literal translation of the uneuphonious name of Abbeokuta, which by no art or skill can be introduced into a line of poetry.

The tyrant is said to have selected the ground upon which he intended

to execute the missionaries found in Abbeokuta.

** The commander-in-chief of the Egbas. He showed both great vigilance and bravery in preparing for the invasion beforehand, and resisting it when it came.

++ In two particulars the Dahomians are raised to the bad eminence of being the worst of the heathen. They alone have a troop of Amazons; and they alone keep up the horrid custom of sacrificing their captives to their gods.

The firing of the cannon at the Aro gate, before six o'clock on the morning of March 15th, was the signal to Abbeokuta that the dreadful enemy was close at hand.

Surprised, but undaunted, they rush to the fight,
Assured that Olorun* will nerve them with might;
The sword they unsheath in defence of their lives,
Their country, their teachers, their children, their wives,
And see, now in vain the invaders advance,
Unfurling the banner, and raising the lance;
And vainly the columns all orderly form,
And vainly, like furies, the Amazons storm.
For the prayer of the humble, "Olorun arise,"
Is wafted, like incense, direct to the skies;
And all the rude shock of invasion is braved,
Its fury is wasted, and Yoruba saved!

Like a wave that retreats from the breast of the rock,
All shatter'd and crush'd, by the force of its shock;
So, back to Dahomey, defeated and small,
The despot retreats from the fortified wall.
Break forth into singing! O Yoruba, thou
No longer shalt crouch before Badahang† now;
All Africa's languages, near and remote,
Unite in the chorus, and take up the note.
Sing forth in the accents of triumph and mirth,
To Him who alone is Most High in the earth;
Oh, sing! for the rod of the tyrant is broken,
And hark! now the voice of Jehovah has spoken:
"Be at peace with yourselves; and My servants believe;
In meekness, My word, which they teach you, receive;
And still, in the gloom of adversity's hour,

Rely on My mercy, My truth, and My power."

So Africa, injured, oppress'd, and enslaved,

At length from her long-lasting woe shall be saved;
From the north to the south, from the cast to the west,
Her tribes and her languages all shall be blest.

*The Yoruba word for Jehovah. "Others I overheard saying, 'Olorun dide,' i.e., O God, arise.' I saw thousands pass my house towards the seat of war, but I did not see any one betray the slightest fear."

The name of the present king. His father Gezo suffered a similar defeat at Abbeokuta, though on a smaller scale, thirteen years ago. In the present instance, the proud boaster was

C. O.

the first to fly; and eventually he was so closely pressed by the pursuing Egbas, that, like another invader of old, he fled away on his feet, his horse, and wives, and immediate attendants falling into the hands of the conquerors. The heathen around are constrained to give glory to the God of the Christians, and actually to say, "the Lord hath done great things for them."

CORRESPONDENCE.

To the Editor of the Christian Observer.

Sir,-In your last number, there was a paper from the Dean of Dromore, "on the first Resurrection." And in the closing summary it is there said :-"They (the saints) shall rise to reign with Christ upon the earth,-first during the millenial age, &c. (Rev. xx. 4.)" May I ask the Dean, or any other interpreter of prophecy who coincides with this interpretation, on what authority he explains of the saints at large a prediction which, by its own very terms, is limited to "the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus"? &c. I really seek this information in no captious spirit, but for bona fide satisfaction.-Your constant reader,

August 11, 1864.

To the Editor of the Christian Observer.

T. H.

Dear Mr. Editor,-It is very generally felt that the interest of our missionary meetings is in great danger of falling away. The reason is perfectly obvious. Missionary exertions have lost their novelty, and with it their romance. And were it otherwise, the information which it was once difficult to obtain is now thrust upon all who are only willing to read the papers which the societies throw around them in such profusion. Unless special pains are taken, the speakers travel over well trodden ground, and the hearers are not refreshed. A very little pains on the part of the former serves to throw an air of constant freshness over these much to be valued meetings. I send you a specimen of what was done in this way with much success at a meeting lately held in a country village. You may, perhaps, think it worthy of a place in your pages; and if so, it may possibly afford some hints to other speakers at other meetings, especially in country parishes, where, if the interest is well preserved, the missionary day has come to be regarded as the great parish festival.-Dear Sir, Yours sincerely, A FRIEND OF MISSIONS.

"THE CHURCH MISSIONARY MEETING,

"IN A YORKSHIRE VILLAGE, ON THE 15TH OF JUNE, 1864.

"It was most delightful to see the Parish Church completely filled on this interesting occasion. After the singing of Bishop Heber's Missionary Hymn, and the Society's prayer had been reverently offered by the clergyman of the Parish, he proceeded to speak a few words of kindly encouragement to his parishioners, congratulating them upon their general attendance, and reminding them of the important object for which they were met together. He then introduced to them a Missionary from India, who had laboured for many years in that country. The whole assembly listened with unbroken attention, for about an hour, to the touching and simple accounts which the Missionary gave them of what he had seen of the misery of the heathen, and the triumph of the Gospel, in Tinnevelly. Another missionary hymn was then sung. The other speaker being introduced, addressed the people in words to this effect:-

"When asked to attend this meeting by your pastor, some weeks ago, I turned to the Almanack, to make a mark opposite the day, lest I should

forget the engagement. In doing this, I noticed these words-'June 15, Magna
Charta signed, 1215.' Here, I thought at once, is the foundation of a mission-
ary speech. To use, with a slight modification, the words of one of our great
poets,-
"This the day

When England's ancient barons, clad in arms,
And stern with conquest, from their tyrant king
(Then rendered tame) did challenge and secure
The charter of thy freedom. It must pass
Till thou hast bless'd their memory, and paid
Those thanks which God appointed the reward
Of public virtue. And, if chance thy house
Salute thee with a father's honour'd name,
Go call thy sons, instruct them what a debt
They owe their ancestors; and make them vow
To pay it, by transmitting down entire

Those sacred rights to which themselves were born.'

"Now, greatly as we ought to value our national blessings, and diligently as we ought to preserve our civil liberty, there are blessings still greater, and there is a liberty more glorious, than that which was secured to us by the Great Charter.' At the beginning of our meeting, this was one of the petitions which we presented to the throne of the heavenly grace, Pity blind idolaters, kept in cruel bondage by Satan, the God of this world.' Surely the 'Great Charter of all' is that which proclaims 'liberty to the captive,' and turns benighted idolaters from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God.' Yes, dear friends,

'He is a freeman whom the truth makes free,

And all are slaves beside.'

You have heard from my friend who has just addressed you, what the Gospel is doing for the poor devil-worshippers of South India. What it is now doing for them, it did formerly for our own idolatrous ancestors here in England. Long before the Great Charter was signed, the missionary had found his way to the dark and barbarous shores of Britain. I would not detract any thing from the merit of the bold barons who won for us the Magna Charta. I have no doubt the owner of yonder castle, in those days, was one of them. Who has not heard of Percy?' But I think there are other benefactors, whose memory we ought to revere, as well as theirs; yes, and more than theirs. The first missionaries to this country, who planted the standard of the cross on our shores, and abolished for ever the abominations of pagan idolatry, are still more entitled to our thanks and our grateful commemoration to-day. After that, when papal darkness had covered the land, and papal bondage had enslaved the people, I think our first great reformers, who gave us the pure word of God in our own tongue, and delivered our nation from the darkness of error and the bondage of superstition, these, I think, are most justly entitled to our thanks"Those thanks which God appointed the reward Of public virtue.'

Neither is this all. The same meed of praise is also to be rendered to the first fathers and founders of these great Missionary Societies, which are the glory of our land; and designed, as we trust, to be the joy of the whole earth. They who roused the Church from the fatal lethargy into which she had fallen, with regard to missionary obligation, and who instructed us, both by precept and example, that all who have the Great Charter themselves are bound to communicate it to those who have it not-these too are entitled to our most reverent regard, and we owe their memory a great debt of gratitude to-day.

How are we to pay this debt? Listen to me, especially my young friends, and I will tell you how. According to the terms of the Great Charter, 'justice is neither to be denied, nor sold, nor delayed to any Englishman.' Put the Gospel in the room of 'justice,' and put the whole human family in the place of 'any Englishman,' and then you will see clearly both the nature and the extent of the obligations under which you lie, as Christians, with regard to the pro pagation of the Gospel. As far as you can accomplish it, by your prayers and