Esther. The great example of God's providence. The soul's soliloquies. The little Bible. Psalms. The anatomy of conscience. The pearl island. Proverbs. Divine ethics, politics, economics. Isaiah. The evangelical prophet. Lamentations. The voice of the turtle. Ezekiel. Urim and Thummim in Babylon. Daniel. The apocalypse of the Old Testament. Amos. The plain-dealing reprover. Jonah. The prophetical apostle of the gentiles. Nahum. The scourge of Assur. Habakkuk. The comforter of captives. Nephaniah. Preparation for sad times. Haggai. Zeal for God's house. Zachariah. Prophetic hieroglyphics. Malachi. The bound-stone of the two Testaments. Matthew. Mark. Luke. John. The four trumpeters proclaiming the title of the Great Acts. The treasury of ecclesiastical history. Romans. The principles of Christian faith. The catholic catechism. 1 Corinthians. Apostolical reformation. 2 Corinthians. A pattern of just apologies. Galatians. The epistle to the Romans epitomized. Ephesians. The opening of the great mystery of salvation. Philippians. An apostolical admonition. Colossians. A brief rule of faith and manners. 1 Thessalonians. Practical theology. 2 Thessalonians. Polemic theology. 1 Timothy. The sacred pastoral. 2 Timothy. The title of the Scripture pleaded. Titus. Agenda, or church-orders. Philemon. The rule of relations. Hebrews. A commentary upon Leviticus. James. The golden alphabet of a Christian. 1 Peter. A theological summary. 2 Peter. The encouragement of a spiritual warrior. The glass of love, or charity. 1 John. VI.-Value of pictorial Representations, as a subsidiary Means of Instruction. GENTLEMEN, To the Editors of the Calcutta Christian Observer. Having observed in a former No. of your publication, a remark from the pen of a very judicious writer, tending to the disparagement of picture books, as a subsidiary means of conveying instruction, I have thought it worth while to invite the attention of your readers to a passage from "Abbott's Young Christian ;" which, although not written with especial reference to them, appears to me to be applicable to the case, and to furnish philosophical arguments for their defence, illustrating, as it does, in a manner which I think must come home to every one's feelings, the value of the imagination, as an instrument in the work of education. Complex as is the nature of man, the greater the number of his faculties we can enlist in our service, the more certain shall we be of a speedy victory over the power of ignorance; and I would observe, that no where can the importance of interesting the imagination be more apparent than here, where the minds of the people have, from education, habit, and prejudices, been hitherto so circumscribed. Disproportionate as has been the importance attached by them to the portion of the earth inhabited by them, relatively with its remaining nations, I can conceive few things more likely to enlarge their conceptions, than drawings illustrative of the manners and customs of other times and other kingdoms; likenesses of illustrious men; representations of important events that have occurred, &c.; and I should much regret, accordingly, to see their value under-rated. The passage I allude to is as follows: "The difficulty which I am now to consider is, that in reading the Bible, especially those portions which are familiar, we stop with merely repeating once over the words, instead of penetrating fully to the meaning. In order to illustrate this difficulty, and its remedy more fully, let me take a passage, for example, the sixth chapter of St. John. "After these things Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. "And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased.' "How familiar, now, this sounds to every reader. Every phrase comes upon the ear like an oft-told tale; but it makes a very slight impression upon the mind. The next verse, though perhaps few of my readers know now what it is, will sound equally familiar when they read it here. "And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples.' "Now suppose this passage, and the verses which follow it, were read at morning prayers by the master of a family, how many of the children would hear it without being interested in it at all, or receiving any clear and vivid ideas from the description? And how many would there be, who, if they were asked two hours afterwards, what had been read that morning, would be utterly unable to tell? "But now, suppose that this same father could, by some magic power, show to his children the real scene which these verses describe. Suppose he could go back through the eighteen hundred years which have elapsed since these events occurred, and taking his family to some elevation in the romantic scenery of Palestine, from which they might overlook the country of Galilee, actually show them all that this chapter describes. 6 "Do you see,' he might say, that wide sea which spreads out beneath us, and occupies the whole extent of the valley? That is the sea of Tiberias; it is also called the sea of Galilee. All this country which spreads around it is Galilee. Those distant mountains are in Galilee, and that beautiful wood which skirts the shore is a Galilean forest.' "Why is it called the sea of Tiberias?' a child might ask. "Do you see at the foot of that hill, on the opposite shore of the lake, a small town? It extends along the margin of the water for a considerable distance: that is Tiberias, and the lake sometimes takes its name.' "But look. Do you see that small boat coming round a point of land which juts out beautifully from this side of the lake? It is slowly making its way across the water; we can almost hear the plashing of the oars. It contains the Saviour, and some of his disciples. They are steering towards Tiberias: now they approach the shore; they stop at the landing, and the Saviour, followed by his disciples, walks up upon the shore.' "Suppose now that this party of observers can remain a little longer at their post, and see in a short time that some sick person is brought to the Saviour to be healed. Another and another comes. A crowd gradually collects around him. He retreats slowly up the rising ground, and after a little time he is seen to take his place upon an elevated spot, where he can overlook and address the throng which has collected around him. "If this could be done, how strong and how lasting an impression would be made upon those minds! Years, and perhaps the whole of life itself, would not obliterate the impression. Even this faint description, though it brings nothing new to the mind, will probably make a much stronger and more lasting impression than merely reading the narration would do. And what is the reason? How is it that what I have here said has impressed this scene upon your minds more distinctly than the simple language of the Bible? Why, it is only because I have endeavoured to lead you to picture this scene to your minds, to conceive of it strongly and clearly. Now any person can do this for himself, in regard to any passage of Scripture. It is not necessary that I should go on and delineate in this manner the whole of the account. Each reader can, if he will task his imagination, paint for himself the scenes which the Bible describes. And if he does bring his intellect and his powers of conception to the work, and read not merely to repeat formally and coldly sounds already familiar, but to bring vivid and clear conceptions to his mind of all which is represented there, he will be interested. He will find new and striking scenes coming up continually to view, and will be surprised at the novelty and interest which this simple and easy effort will throw over those very portions of the Bible to which the ear has become most completely familiar." The above remarks, as well as others of the same nature, must already be in the hands of many of your readers; but to promote discussion, whether by original or borrowed communications, must ever be productive of advantage, and you may therefore perhaps deem this worthy of insertion. A FRIEND. VII.-Lamentable Prejudices of American Christians. GENTLEMEN, To the Editors of the Calcutta Christian Observer. I beg to hand you an extract from a letter lately received from the United States, which exhibits a melancholy specimen of the illiberal feelings, which, it appears, are entertained almost universally in America against persons of colour, however deserving of respect and esteem the same may otherwise be. The writer of the letter is the Rev. Mr. Metzger, a German Missionary, who labored several years at Sierra Leone, under the auspices of the Church Missionary Society. During his residence in that colony, he married a young lady of colour, who had received a superior education, and whose father was a respectable English gentleman. The insalubrity of the climate having compelled Mr. Metzger to leave Sierra Leone, he proceeded to America, with a view of taking a ministerial charge among the German emigrants in that country. He writes from Ann Arbour, in Michigan, under date 25th August, 1834, as follows: (Translated from the German.) “We arrived safely at New-York on the 27th July; but how astonished was I, when yet in the harbour, to learn, that for some time, there exists in America, not only prejudice, but absolute hatred against all blacks and persons of colour! The captain of the vessel and the pilot advised me, in order to avoid bad consequences, to leave for a while my wife and children on board, and to go on shore alone. I acted accordingly, and returned the following day to fetch my family. On my arriving with them at the hotel where I had lodged the previous day, it was intimated to me, that it would give great offence if Mrs. Metzger appeared at the public ta ble; we were in consequence compelled to seclude ourselves in our own apartments. Disgusted with the illiberal feelings I saw prevalent, I quitted New-York as early as I found practicable, and proceeded to Buffalo, where I hoped to find an asylum for myself and mine. On reaching the place, I left my wife and children on the steam boat, and called on the Rev. Mr. G-, to whom I had letters of introduction. He received me very kindly, and with several of his friends, promised to look out immediately for suitable lodgings for us. After some hours of fruitless search, they came to the steam boat, and told me, that although there was no want of lodgings in the town, yet, owing to my family connexions, no one was willing to admit us; and even a tavern-keeper, to whom application had been made, appeared reluctant to receive us. I was therefore compelled to prosecute my journey as far as this place; but we had a most disagreeable voyage. At a certain town, an American lady, who had taken a passage in our steamer, no sooner had entered the cabin, and perceived Mrs. Metzger, than she exclaimed in a most unfeeling manner: 'It is quite suffocating here, and there is a black woman on board; put me on shore immediately.' Afterwards my poor wife was so wantonly insulted by some of the passengers, that it actually overpowered her, and she fainted away. I arrived at Ann Arbour on the 18th August; but I see as yet no prospect of settling, although German clergymen, who are acquainted with the English language, otherwise find no difficulty in doing it. I am given to understand every where, that my not succeeding is owing to my wife's being a person of colour. Were it not for this circumstance, I should have had a church long ere this." Thus far Mr. Metzger. Who, on reading the above, can forbear sympathy with the unfortunate class of our fellow creatures, subject to such illiberal and unmanly treatment? And who, not previously aware of the fact, would ever suspect that such treatment is inflicted in a country, where of all others in the world, one would least expect it,-in FREE America!!!! L. VIII.-Statement of the Plan and Objects of the General Assembly's Mission in India, by the Rev. A. Duff. It was intended to introduce into this number, an abstract of the speech delivered by Mr. DUFF, before the GENERAL ASSEMBLY of the CHURCH of SCOTLAND; but as the speech. itself, though in a somewhat garbled form, has already been published in the newspapers, we prefer laying before our readers the following statement, more recently published by Mr. DUFF. It contains a brief, but accurate and most interesting view of the plan and objects of the General Assembly's Mission in India; and well deserves the attention of every friend of Missions. This Mission embraces all the departments of labour that have been resorted to, and found efficacious, by societies of different denominations, in reclaiming the wastes of heathenism. It includes the Christian education of the Young; the teaching and preaching of the Gospel; the translation and distribution of the Sacred Scriptures and Religious Tracts, &c. These are the means ordained of God: this the instrumentality that must prove irresistible in its efficacy--infallible in its ultimate results. The founders of the Mission, regarding the Teaching and Preaching of the Gospel as the grand instrumentality in the conversion of the world, resolved, from the first, to provide adequate means for the formation of an effective native agency. Is it the wish of British Christians to see the teeming millions of Hindustán awakened-regenerated-saved? And is it not worse than chimerical to attempt to reach and reclaim all of these, by the direct immediate exertions of a few foreign agents, labouring, as these must ever do, under numberless disadvantages? Well, to meet the fearful exigency, and yet as speedily as possible consummate the glorious end, the General Assembly determined to put forth a portion of its strength in rearing up a school of religious native teachers; who, from being habituated to the climate, from their vernacular acquaintance with the languages, from their knowledge of the manners, customs, feelings, sentiments, and prejudices of the people, could labour with peculiar effect in disseminating the light and life of Christian truth throughout every province of the land. For this purpose, an institution was organized in August, 1830, in Calcutta, the metropolis of British India. And, as the nature and importance of this institution do not appear to be generally understood or ap |