tions. To those who are seeking to lead sinners to the Saviour there will indeed be much to weary and to disappoint, but this is an exercise of soul which the faithful labourer experiences everywhere, and is a precious though a painful part of the fellowship with Christ into which he has been called.

On the other hand, these great towns afford opportunities of evangelistic work, and privileges of Christian fellowship, which cannot be met with elsewhere. The foregoing sketch, though bare, will yet be sufficient to show a variety of classes and of characters which could not fail to interest the labourer who was permitted to deal with it. The upper and middle class of his own countrymen, in all the phases of so-called Christianity; the poor Eurasians; the obstinate idolater; the proud contemptuous Brahmo, silent or sophistical; the simpler and more hopeful natives of a second rank, ready to hear, often seeming ready to believe; the Hindu country cousin from his far-off village school, struck by the novelty of the Gospel, buying a Bible and searching its contents-all these elements combined, present a whole which for national, mental, and spiritual variety, reached and dealt with by a single tongue, could not be equalled in any other city of the world.

In bringing to a conclusion this account of my work in Calcutta, I have decided to make known to my readers some facts which I had not the least intention of publishing when I began these notes.

My purpose in writing at all was to add to the information of fellow-Christians respecting a very peculiar part of the mission-field, particularly in the hope of encouraging some labourers endowed with suitable gifts to go out, it might be only for a few months, and preach the Gospel in their own language. In doing this I have said nothing about pecuniary means, and I had intended to leave this part of the subject entirely to the principles and circumstances of my readers. But pecuniary means are so much connected with the difficulties of working in a country at such a distance from us as India, that the want of them presents an apparently insuperable

barrier to many who are otherwise qualified for the work; and as there is no consideration but that of personal feelings to prevent the experiences of one evangelist being made known to others, I have thought latterly that I should scarcely be justified in altogether withholding information which might further the Lord's work in India more than anything else that I have written. I would then remind those who feel drawn to such a work as I have been describing, that the silver and the gold are the Lord's. What they have been leaving for men of fortune may be done by men of faith. We are a great deal more independent of the world and its money than even Christians are apt to believe. One who knows God as his Father and Saviour has quite enough of promises respecting bodily wants to remove all carefulness when he is engaged in God's work, and to make him depend upon God alone in any part of the world.

It may be to the encouragement of some if I say that I went out to India as any evangelist without any means either to remain in the country or to return to England. I have related at the commencement of this narrative the only pecuniary transaction connected with it at home. My friend Dr. C., who had proposed the work, sent £100 to defray the expenses of the outward voyage. Besides this, during the whole time I was in India, I had " no communication as concerning giving and receiving" with any Christian friends at home. I had but very few introductions in India: my work was thought by many Quixotic; and often where I expected sympathy I met with cold indifference. Had I depended upon men-upon Christian men, and even upon those recognised as most ardent in the work of the Lord,-I must have fainted and failed; but depending upon the Lord alone, I found most blessed exercise of faith, and such proofs of his faithfulness as they only know who are shut up to God.

I had not the means of continuing my evangelistic journey from Calcutta until the Lord put it into the hearts of some of his people to inquire about the matter. The question came from them: they thought that their help might be acceptable, being suggested, they said, by the mention of Dr. C.'s share of the work.

By their means, in this last graceful act of a consistent and hearty fellowship, I was freed from all consideration of money throughout the long journey to the other side of India. The way being now made plain, I left these friends and their city of palaces. Native bazaars and European mansions were soon left far behind, but not so the affectionate regard which had grown up among them, or the lessons they had taught.

THE TOWNS OF THE NORTH.

THE great railway stations of India present a more lively scene than those of old England, even as represented by Frith. The English elements are all there; but it is to the mass of Hindus of all classes, from the rajah to the pariah, that we are indebted for the most striking features of a railway journey. The low natives, who seem to travel in great numbers, crowd the platform-noisy, dirty, wondering: driven on with difficulty to their right places by the "âge jâo !" (get along!) of the guard--one of the few, or at least the earliest phrases with which that official becomes acquainted. Once in the carriages, some of which are built in two stories so as to accommodate a double number, the railway travellers, except those of the upper class, who travel with the Europeans, are locked in and kept in durance to the end of their journey, looking out of the windows of their stifling prison at the sahibs or English gentlemen refreshing themselves at the various stopping places on the route.

The railway station of Calcutta is at Howrah, which I have already described as on the opposite bank of the Hooghly. From thence I started for the northwest on a line of rail which is continued without interruption to Delhi-1,017 miles from the capital. The first town of interest upon this journey is Serampore, the scene of the long labours of Carey, Marshman, and Ward, and so of the first-fruits of the educational blessings which have elevated young Bengal.

After Serampore we pass Chandernagore, the old settlement and hope of our rivals the French, and Burdwan -the birthplace of Rammohun Roy. The last named place is also interesting from its being the centre of the richest coal district in India, and as it is only fifty miles

distant from Calcutta, and the field is abundantly supplied with limestone and hard sandstone as well as coal, it is a peculiarly valuable piece of country. In 1861 this district alone produced 365,000 tons of coal, all the rest of India supplying only 66,000. It should be added, however, that the country had then been very imperfectly surveyed. This first day's journey I ended at Mongyr, where I was hospitably received by my kind friend Mr. D., whose acquaintance I had made on board the Mongolia.

Mongyr is a lovely little spot near the bend of the Ganges, where the great river, which has hitherto been running from west to east, turns more southward towards the sea. It is quite unlike Indian scenery in general, which is flat and uninteresting. The large grass-covered mounds of earth and ruins of a vast Mussulman fort, added to the natural undulations of the ground, produce a variety seldom seen in the plains of Bengal or Hindustan. Mongyr was much frequented as a military sanatarium before the extension of our frontier towards the northwest put it out of reach of the great part of the army. Though a little place, it is not without bright Christian testimony. There are several Europeans at Mongyr who love and serve the Lord: living in a simple and somewhat patriarchal way they are known for Christian benevolence and the consecration of Oriental knowledge.

As soon as I arrived here I received a message from the Church of England clergyman at Jamalpore, requesting that I would give an address to the educated natives in his town. Jamalpore was only six miles from Mongyr, and I had to pass through it on my journey next day. Anxious to make the meeting fully known, Mr. L. had sent round two Baboos or native gentlemen, one to the Europeans and the other to the educated natives in the place. The former seemed to leave the commission undone; the latter to do it well. Had the Europeans come there would have been no room for the Hindus who wished to hear. The schoolroom was quite filled with the latter; and in the audience I observed one, and I think two, of my fellow-travellers of the day before, with whom I had very interesting conversations