from the hands of a cruel and heartless set of monopolists? As it is a reasonable maxim, as well as a scriptural law, that "except a man work," when he has strength to work, and can get work to do, "neither shall he eat," so, also, it is but fair play that the man who wishes to share in the benefits of the citizen should take a part in the discharge of the responsibilities of the citizen. It would be base in the extreme for a citizen to leave to his fellows all the drudgery and labour of citizenship, and then come in for his full share of all its privileges. Such drones, such poltroons, such living forms of intense selfishness are not to suppose that their real character is the more honourable because all this is done under the guise of superior sanctity, and under cover of a piety so refined and heavenly that its subject cannot come down to these matters of time and sense. Christian men are emphatically called upon, by their love to God and to man, to take up their natural position in the body politic, and by honour, public spirit, patriotic zeal, unbending integrity, and a disinterested philanthropy, "let their light so shine before men," in the faithful and conscientious discharge of their social and political duties, that their fellow-citizens, "seeing their good works" in these respects, "may glorify their Father who is in heaven." It may serve to dissipate the idea of the impropriety of religious men meddling with politics, to be reminded of a startling fact or two. From a Parliamentary paper, No. 505, Session 1852, it appears that during the last thirty years-viz., from 1822 to the close of 1851-the total sum expended on the British army and navy has amounted to four hundred and thirty-five millions nine hundred and seventy-eight thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight pounds sterling! An enormous price of blood indeed! During the same period whilst, as British Christians, we have been sending our missionaries to convert the heathen Kaffirs, we have, as the British nation, spent one million four hundred thousand pounds sterling in the wars which we have maintained against this Kaffir race. Porter, in his admirable work, "Progress of the Nation," shows that during the first fifty-two years of the present century-that is, from 1801 to 1852-the nation has expended already upon our military and naval establishments more than one thousand three hundred millions of hard cash! What is still more worthy of observation, and should be suggestive in a higher degree to men of Christian principle and sentiment, is the fact that of this enormous outlay for the national Aceldama, more than one-half of it has been spent since the general peace! In an elaborate statement recently laid before the public, and the result of careful research into all Parliamentary documents relating to our military forces, and signed by Hume, Cobden, and Williams, as an attestation of its authority, it is proved that since the year 1835, Great Britain has added to its military force, apart from the militia, 72,586 men! The expenses in this department, including the expenses of the militia and the Kaffir war, last year, were no less than 16,500,0007. Mr. Cobden has, with great force, asked, Had any one realized what fourteen or fifteen millions really meant? The rental of all the real property, he observes, in Middlesex, Kent, Surrey, and Essex, was 19,924,000l. The sum voted, therefore, in 1852 for the defence of the country, is greater than the rental of the four metropolitan counties! Lancashire and Yorkshire, not without reason termed "the backbone of England," has a rental of only 12,500,000l., or 2,000,000l. less than the cost of defence! The cotton-manufacture employs about 3,000,000 of our population. The whole raw cotton used cost only as much as last year was spent upon our national defences! What is now paid for army, navy, and ordnance would pay 10s. a week to 500,000 agricultural labourers, as many as are required to raise the food consumed in England. "And yet," exclaims this enlightened advocate of free-trade and of peace principles, "the nation is not defended!" Where is the Christian believer whose cheek does not mantle with crimson in the presence of these facts; or who can hold himself guiltless if he take no interest in such a national expenditure as this? How can he, with the slightest consistency, pray for "the increase of the government, and peace" of the Son of David, and for the establishment of his throne "with judgment and with justice from henceforth and for ever," unless he aid his fellow-citizens by political action in preventing such a fearful abuse of our national wealth? Faith and works are inseparable. Reliance upon Providence implies the strenuous and careful use of opportunities presented by Providence. It were folly, an impiety_nothing less than atheism, to expect results and to neglect available means. How does the prophetic vision of Isaiah enrapture the soul of the believer as scenes, the fruit of diffused truth, are depicted before his faith! "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf, and the young lion, and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.' Can a believer in the spirit and power of the gospel excuse himself from lifting up his voice, and taking action against our enormous military expenditure, by pleading that this is a political subject, and that to meddle with it would lower his tone of piety, and be inconsistent with his spirituality of mind? Before he expects sensible men to listen to his cant, or to believe in his sincerity when uttering it, let him abandon every bread and cheese question, and thus show himself so superior to all that concerns ordinary mortals that he is prepared to starve unless the ravens bring him his food; and thus leave him at liberty to live to devote all his energies to the contemplation of the spiritual and eternal! Did the nation spend less on war, the working man would have more to spend on the comforts of his fireside, the education of his own family, and his own mental and social improvement. Would the Christian public wake up to its political duties, many a costly national absurdity would soon be swept away, and the cost might be applied by the men whose pockets pay the expense to far better purposes. Take one instance. To carry on the government of the Tower of London, there is a constable, lieutenant, deputy-lieutenant, and a major. Their united salaries amount to 4,000/. a year, -a sum nearly equal to the salary of the First Lord of the Treasury. Between the two cases there is this difference, the Prime Minister has a good deal to do; the officials of the Tower, nothing. "When we say 'nothing,' observes the Daily News, we mean comparatively so; for, of the four, one only resides upon the spot, and he is the major, whose duty is to take charge of "the keys "-a sort of upper gatekeeper. The charge of that key is a very ceremonious and costly affair. Every night all the beef-eaters, ycleped the yeomen of the guard, assemble, armed with halberts, at the dread hour of midnight, and carry the key in procession to the quarters of this major. The guard turns out, the officer on duty crying out as they approach, Who comes there?' 'Keys! is the reply. What keys?' Queen Victoria's keys.' 'Pass! Queen Victoria's keys.' 'Guard, present arms!' 'God bless Queen Victoria's keys!' Away go the keys to the major;-and this midnight farce costs the nation almost as much as the President of the United States cost our cousin Jonathan!" THE POPULATION OF THE GLOBE is supposed to be less than one thousand millions -937,000,000. A French writer alluding to the subject, says :-" If all mankind were collected in one place, every four individuals occupying a square metre, the whole might be contained in a field ten miles square. Thus, generally speaking, the population of a country might be packed, without much squeezing, in its capital. But the mean idea this gives us of the number of the human race, is counterbalanced by its capability of extension. The New World is said to contain of productive land 4,000,000 square miles of middling quality, each capable of supporting two hundred inhabitants; and 6,000,000 of a better quality, capable of supporting five hundred persons. According to this calculation, the population of the New World, as peace and civilization advance, we may attain to the extent of 4,000,000,000. If we suppose the surface of the Old World to be double that of America (and notwithstanding the comparative poverty of the land, this calculation may be accepted, if we say nothing of Australia and the various archipelagoes), it would support 8,000,000,000; and thus the aggregate population of the entire globe might amount to 12,000,000,000, or twelve times the present number. Scripture Cabinet. WAY OF PREPARING LOCUSTS FOR FOOD IN THE DESERT OF ZAHARA. IN and about this valley were great flights of locusts. During the day, they are flying around very thickly in the atmosphere; but the copious dews and chilly air in the night, render them unable to fly, and they settle down on the bushes. It was the constant employment of the natives in the night to gather these insects from the bushes, which they did in great quantities. My master's family, each with a small bag, went out the first night upon this employment, carrying a very large bag to bring home the fruits of their labour. My mistress, Fatima, however, and the two little children, remained in the tent. I declined this employment, and retired to rest under the large tent. The next day the family returned loaded with locusts, and, judging by the eye of the quantity produced, there must have been about fifteen bushels. This may appear to be a large quantity to be gathered in so short a time; but it is scarcely worth mentioning when compared with the loads of them gathered, sometimes, in the more fertile part of the country over which they pass, leaving a track of desolation behind them. But as they were the first, in any considerable quantity, that I had seen, and the first I had seen cooked and eaten, I mention it in this place, hoping hereafter to give my readers more particular information concerning these wonderful and destructive insects, which, from the days of Moses to this time, have been considered, by Jews and Mohammedans, as the most severe judgment which Heaven can inflict upon man. But whatever the Egyptians might have thought in ancient days, or the Moors and Arabs in those of modern date, the Arabs who are compelled to inhabit the desert of Zahara, so far from considering a flight of locusts as a judgment upon them for their transgressions, welcome their approach as the means, sometimes, of saving them from famishing with hunger. The whole that were brought to the tent at this time were cooked while alive, as indeed they always are, for a dead locust is never cooked. The manner of cooking is by digging a deep hole in the ground, building a fire at the bottom, as before described, and filling it up with wood. After it is heated as hot as possible, the coals and embers are taken out, and they prepare to fill the cavity with the locusts, confined in a large bag. A sufficient number of the natives hold the bag perpendicularly over the hole, the mouth of it being near the surface of the ground. A number stand around the hole with sticks. The mouth of the bag is then opened, and it is shaken with great force, the locusts falling into the hot pit, and the surrounding natives throwing sand upon them to prevent them from flying off. The mouth of the hole is then covered with sand, and another fire built upon the top of it. In this manner they cook all they have on hand, and dig a number of holes sufficient to accomplish it, each containing about five bushels. They remain in the hole until they become sufficiently cool to be taken out with the hand. They are then picked out, and thrown upon tentcloths, or blankets, and remain in the sun to dry, where they must be watched with the utmost care to prevent the live locusts from devouring them, if a flight happens to be passing at the time. When they are perfectly dried, which is not done short of two or three days, they are slightly pounded, and pressed into bags or skins, ready for transportation. To prepare them to eat, they are pulverized in mortars, and mixed with water sufficient to make a kind of dry pudding. They are, however, sometimes eaten singly, without pulverizing, by breaking off the head, wings, and legs, and swallowing the remaining part. In whatever manner they are eaten, they are nourishing food. It is not only by the inhabitants of the Great Desert that the locusts are hailed with joy. The Hottentots also give them a hearty welcome, and make many a hearty meal upon them, too-not only eating them in large quantities, but making a sort of coffee-coloured soup of their eggs. Locusts are cooked in various waysroasted, boiled, and fried. Sometimes they are ground up in hand-mills, or pounded between two stones, and then mixed with flour and made into cakes and baked. They are also salted and smoked, and packed away against a time of scarcity. It is said they taste very much like fish, and are particularly light, delicate, and wholesome food. They are carried into many of the towns of Africa, by wagon loads, as we bring poultry to market. HE WOULD NOT BELIEVE. IT is related that some years ago, while a frigate was cruising in the Mediterranean, her commander was ordered to ascertain whether there existed, within certain lines of latitude and longitude, a shoal or reef, which had been reported as being there. The captain addressed himself to the task, with all the rough earnestness of a British seaman, at the same time entertaining a strong persuasion that nothing of the kind described would be found in the position pointed out. The undertaking was accordingly conducted in a superficial manner, and was speedily terminated by the captain declaring that the report which had occasioned the search was a perfect mistake, and originated in delusion or falsehood. But an officer on board-a man who had accustomed himself to accurate calculations and observation-was of another mind, and felt convinced that, with more careful and prolonged examination, a different result might probably be obtained. None of his arguments, however, availed with the commander, who sharply rebuked him as wanting experience, and being a mere theorist. The officer, however, carefully treasured up his observations and reckonings, and, having left the frigate, persuaded the Admiralty to send him on a second expedition, with a small vessel under his own command, in quest of the reported rock, or whatever else it might prove to be. His voyage was successful; and he returned with the clearly ascertained information, that in a certain spot in the Mediterranean there lay a dangerous sunken rock. This fact, for safety in the navigation of that sea, was of course forthwith carefully marked down in the charts. For this service he was rewarded with promotion. The commander of the frigate, hearing of this some time afterwards, was highly incensed, and declared that the report was a fraud to get promotion; adding, "If ever I have the keel of this ship under me in those waters again, and do not carry her clean over where the chart marks a rock, call me a liar, and no seaman to boot." Two years afterwards he was bound for Naples, having some public functionaries as passengers on board his vessel. One autumn afternoon, as the ship took a north-easterly direction, threatening dark strips of cloud began to stream over the sky, and a gale sprang up, which made the sails and cordage creak as though they would burst, while the heaving waves tossed and tried the timber of the well-compacted keel. Night came on, and the captain paced the decks rather anxiously, and consulted with the master of the ship, whose practical skill and experience rendered him a valuable counsellor. By the light of a lantern they examined a chart,-when the master, pointing to the spot whereabouts they were, exclaimed, "Look here, sir!" There was the recently-discovered point of danger, marked down under the name of the "Twills Rocks." The commander was reminded of former circumstances, and, incensed beyond description at the remembrance, burst out into a passionate speech, abusing the officer who had reported the discovery, and repeating his own determination to sail right over the spot, and so demonstrate the whole thing as a bugbear, at the same time stamping his foot to give emphasis to his words. On the ship speeded her way over the rolling billows, and down went the commander into the cabin to join his illustrious passengers, and to tell the story of the sunken rock, thinking to make them merry at the expense of the false lieutenant. "In five minutes," said he, taking out his watch, with a laugh, "we shall have crossed this terrible spot." But the intelligence by no means awakened sympathetic merriment in the company: they were terror-stricken, while he spoke gaily. There was a pause, and then a slight grating touch of something that scratched the bottom of the noble ship-then a noise of alarm from the hatchway-then a shock-then a crash, and a quivering of the hull-and then the bursting of timbers, and the in-gushing of water. The frigate had struck, and was presently a wreck,-the masts reeling over into the ocean, and the breakers threatening to swallow up all that remained of the ill-fated vessel. With desperate energy everything possible was done to save the passengers. The boats were hauled out, and all on board embarked, and were ultimately preserved, except a few drunken sailors in the hold, and the commander, who would not survive his mad temerity. The last seen of the unhappy man was his white figure, bare-headed, and in his shirt, looking out from the dark hull of the frigate, the foam bursting round her bows and stern. HE WOULD NOT BELIEVE. He had possessed the means of ascertaining the truth; he had listened to the arguments, and heard the reports of others; there was evidence enough to satisfy an unprejudiced man; but he would not believe. And is not that captain's history a parable of what is commonly occurring among mankind? Persons will not hearken to those who are wiser than themselves; but, with some fixed idea of their own, which, though perfectly unfounded, nothing can move, they rush on to their own destruction. They are deluded by some falsehood they have created or adopted for themselves, while S they pronounce the truth told them by others to be false and delusive. A man is warned against a certain course of conduct, which it is plain will ruin him; he is assured that a sunken rock lies before him; but he will not believe, and on he goes, till, in some dark hour, he makes shipwreck. The parable well suits the case of men who disbelieve what is reported on Divine authority respecting another world, and their relation to it. The Bible is a chart, laid down by God himself, for the guidance of men over the ocean of life. About its Divine origin, and its perfect truth, there can be no reasonable hesitation whatever. The evidences of Christianity appeal to the understanding and the heart, with a force which nothing but determined obstinacy can resist, or sheer sophistry evade. Miracles, prophecies, the character of Jesus Christ, the history of Christianity, the pure morality of the Bible, its original truths, their adaptation to our necessities,—all these, and other considerations, offer an accumulation of proof unparalleled in connection with anything else which asks belief; yet many will not believe. The Bible exhibits God's pure and righteous character; and the moral nature and accountability of man, his depravity, actual sinfulness, and aggravated guilt; the mission of our Lord Jesus Christ into this world for the redemption of sinners, his holy life, and his sacrifice on the cross; the descent of the Spirit, for the renewal of human hearts, and the edification, comfort, and peace of the spiritual church; the necessity of faith in the Divine Mediator, as the means of our acceptance with God; and of the new birth of the soul, and its growth in spiritual life and holiness, as a preparation for heaven; yet many will not believe. It warns men that the rejection of these truths must lead to inevitable ruin. shows that a life of sensuality, a life of avarice, a life of worldly ambition, a life of selfishness, a life of alienation from God, a life of impenitence, and carelessness, and frivolity, will assuredly conduct to destruction; yet many will not believe. It warns us that the wrath of God is revealed against all unrighteousness of man; that the Lord Jesus shall be revealed in flaming fire, to take vengeance on them that know not God, and obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ; that he who believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. It thus lays down the existence of a rock, on which men pursuing a certain course must dash; but many will not believe. It The rock is sunken and unseen. Some profess to have investigated the subject, and found it all delusion. But He who knows all things, who is the faithful and true Witness, who cannot lie, declares to us that there it is. Men may ridicule the idea, and boast of their superiority to vulgar prejudices; but there it is. It is true you cannot see it; it lies at present out of sight; but there it is. Believing, or not believing, makes no difference with regard to the actual existence of a thing; and therefore, however men may think and feel about the future punishment of impenitence and unbelief, the fact remains there it is. It must have been an awful moment when the commander of the frigate discovered his mistake-when the vessel actually struck on the sunken rock, and the wild waves came dashing over it—when he stood there on the shattered timbers, looking out in the dark night upon the watery grave opening at his feet. One can imagine, though hardly with sufficient vividness and power, what must have been his bitter selfmortification, reproach, despair, and agony, as he thought of the folly which had produced this irreparable mischief. In the few moments spent upon the wreck, in that wild raging sea, there must have been intense anguish. A far more awful moment will it be when a self-deluded soul awakes in eternity to the consciousness of its own infatuated unbelief,-when the truth, longdenied, opposed, ridiculed, and reviled, comes before the eye, and overwhelms the heart, as a stern reality. Can any one adequately imagine what must be the feeling upon the discovery, when the mischief is beyond repair, of a life spent in a reckless rejection of the Divine testimony respecting ETERNAL RUIN? Let the reader ponder well this account of the sunken rock, and observe how the grossest credulity is connected with the rejection of what is reported on sufficient evidence: nor let him fail to recognize in the fact just related, the shadow of an awful spiritual reality to be verified in his future experience, unless by an early and earnest reception of the Gospel he should prevent it, and henceforth steer his vessel by that heaven-sent chart-THE BIBLE. THE WHITE HORSE. THIS being Friday, the Sultan went in state to the mosque at the Alcazar. He passed between two lines of troops from his country box, a distance of three miles. I had an opportunity of seeing him from the roof of the consulate, as he passed along the brow of the hill to the Alcazar gate. He rode a white horse. When he came in sight, there was a general exclamation from those on the roofs :-"A white horse!" They all turned round, and smiled, and beckoned to each other; and general joy |