to say, "Have you nearly learned your lesson?" or, "I have nearly learned my lesson:" but "not nearly" is barbarism; that is, in the sense intended to be conveyed; but which is not conveyed by this expression. "Not near" conveys it accurately, and so our forefathers and our best writers thought, till the affectation of modern grammarianism turned sense into nonsense. "Not nearly learned it," means not quite perfectly whereas the speaker meant "not near," that is, very far from, not even near or approaching to it.

What is meant by "he is a superior man ;" "it is a superior book;" "these are minor matters ?" -superior or minor to whom, to what?-"I am quite annoyed." The word "annoy" is, perhaps, correctly used in this expression; but it had long become obsolete: the colloquial use of it was, therefore, affectation; and the affectation has by trite usage become a vulgarism. Again, the French call a little net, or work-bag, a reticule; the importers of the article into England imported the name with it; some person accustomed to the vulgar cockneyism of " redicule" for "ridi. cule," and thinking a portable bag for a pocket very "rediculous,' blundered between the words; and the "reticule" because a "redicule," which some better pronunciator, but not better linguist, converted into "ridicule;" where the matter rested, till good usage brought it back to the original "reticule."

But "these are minor matters," True, but Christian simplicity is not a minor matter; and as affectations of speech arise from pravity of heart, they are not too trivial to be noticed or corrected.

AN ANTIQUARIAN.

RELINQUISHED MISSIONS.
NICOBAR ISLANDS.

(Concluded from page 105.) THE venerable missionary Haensal proceeds to give a detailed account

of the manners and customs of the Nicobar Islanders, from which we shall abridge a few particulars.

The natives of these islands are a free people, perfectly independent, but have a captain in every village. Their houses are generally spacious, and built upon pillars six or more feet from the ground; and the inhabitants ascend them by a ladder, which they can draw up after them. Each house has only one room, but generally contains more than one family. The furniture consists of a few pots, made by the women, some highly polished cocoa-nut dishes, to hold water, some hatchets, a sabre or two, a few sailors' knives, and several spears. A family generally possesses two or three boats. Their chief food is bread, made of the fruit of a kind of palm-tree; yams, several other good roots, and fruit from various trees and shrubs; plenty of pork and poultry, fed with cocoanuts, and remarkably good; and an abundance of crabs and seafish. Their dress is adapted to the climate, being merely an apron or strip of cloth passed round their bodies. They pride themselves upon their fine skin, which they keep very clean. They live in licentious habits, often to the utter ruin of their constitutions in very early life. They are a good-natured race, being always ready to do a kind action to their friends, of which Haensal mentions the following instance :-" We used to buy of them what we wanted, and to pay them with tobacco, which is the current medium. By the nonarrival of the ship, we were once left entirely without it: we therefore told the captain of the village, that the people need not bring us any more provisions, for we had nothing to give in exchange. The captain did as we desired; yet, on the very next day, we were supplied more plentifully than ever with the things we wanted. They would not even wait for pay; but hung up their fruit and meat about the house, and went away; We called after them, and told them

how we were situated. Their answer was: When you had plenty of tobacco, you gave us as much as you could spare: we have provisions enough, and you shall have as much as you want, so long as we have any, till you get more tobacco. This promise they faithfully performed. Such kindness we did not expect from such people; but they always shewed great affection for us."

As to religion, they are in a state of deplorable ignorance. They are not professed idolaters, like most of the other oriental nations. They have not even a word in their language to express their idea of God, When the missionaries endeavoured to explain to them the goodness of God, in pitying the lost condition of man, and providing the means of our redemption, they listened with astonishment and silent submission; but that they were interested in the message, was more than they could comprehend. "When," says the missionary, "we added that we had come to their island for no other purpose but to make them acquaint ed with their Creator and Redeemer, and urged them to lay the matter to heart, they only laughed at us. They insisted that they were good by nature, and never did any thing wrong, as we well knew."

They believe that all dangerous diseases proceed from the devil, who is nevertheless under the controul of their sorcerers: if, therefore, these men cannot cure a disorder by their tricks, by which they pretend to catch the devil and drive him off the place, they then pretend that he has entered into some man or woman, who, by witchcraft, is sucking the power of healing out of the patient's body. The sorcerer then proceeds to discover the witch, and finds no difficulty in fixing upon some person whom he dislikes. His word is taken for the voice of truth, and the poor person accused is murdered without further inquiry. They seem to recognize the spirit of evil in all their religious rites: they even ascribe the creation of the world to

him. If they commit any crime, they answer, "It was not I, it was the devil that did it." If told that they did it themselves, they reply, "The Creator did not make me perfect;" and therefore they cannot help sometimes doing what is wrong. They speak of many sorts of devils, but all malicious and disposed to hurt them, if they had not such great and powerful sorcerers among them, who have superior power, and can catch and bring them into subjection. It is not difficult for the sorcerers thus to impose upon these poor ignorant people, as they possess much cunning, and astonishing dexterity, being perhaps the most expert jugglers in the world. Their deceptions are so great, that the missionaries often stood astonished, being unable to account for what they saw. - To cure disorders, they pretend with incredible sleight of hand to conjure enchanted yams, potsherds, or other articles out of their patients' bodies, and they even attempted to practise their arts upon the missionaries themselves. But as it sometimes happened, that when the skill of the sorcerers proved ineffective, a missionary administered some simple medicine which had the desired effect, the people looked upon the strangers as the chief of sorcerers, though their medicines consisted of nothing but magnesia, spirits of nitre, and a few simples. But what astonished them most, was that the missionaries could inform them before-hand, by means of a perpetual almanack, that an eclipse of the sun or moon would take place on the very day when it happened. Their notion of the cause of an eclipse is, that an evil spirit comes to devour the sun or moon, and falls to work to gnaw off the edge; and, consequently, the sorcerers and the people assemble with spears, gongs, and hideous uproar to frighten him away. -To expel the devil from a sick person or family, they construct and decorate a small raft. This toy they place between two boats, each rowed by a crew of stout young men,

The head sorcerer, his skin painted all over in the most hideous manner, and armed with a club, makes gesticulations the most horrible with yells and howlings, till, pretending to seize the invisible enemy by a leg, an arm, or even by the hair of his head, he deposits him on board the raft, which the boats tow out to sea. The enemy, they say, may survive this rough usage, if driven on shore by the tide or wind within two days; but on the third day he must die. Should he land at another village, he does the mischief there, which he was prevented doing at the former place; and in consequence the greatest enmity immediately takes place between the two villages, and nothing can atone for the aggression but a combat between them. The business is soon decided, peace is restored, and all are convinced that the vanquished party was the aggressor.

Shortly after entering upon their sphere of Christian exertion, the missionaries purchased a piece of land, and made a treaty of friendship with the people, so that they were no longer looked upon as foreigners, but as natives. Some malicious persons, however, endeavoured to raise suspicions in the minds of their countrymen, as to the intentions of the missionaries; so that the latter were for some time in danger of their lives: but their upright intentions were at length acknowledged, and ever after due respect and confidence were shewn to them by all the inhabitants.

The failure of the mission was owing to various causes: among

Nicobar language so perfectly as to be able clearly to explain to the people the will of God concerning ing human salvation. "But," adds Haensal, "I am of opinion that they are not the most hopeless subjects, and think that the Gospel might be preached to them with success, if the above-mentioned obstacles were removed.""I bless the Lord my Saviour," concludes this venerable man, "for preserving me in the midst of all trouble and danger; and if I appear to have endured some sufferings in body and mind in the East Indies, more especially by the total failure of our endeavours to gain souls for Christ from among the heathen in the place to which we were sent, I praise the Lord for the great mercies I have since experienced in the West Indies, where I have beheld with joy the power of the word of his Cross, in the conversion of hundreds and thousands of Negroes, among whom I have had the favour to proclaim it. I still think of, and pray for, the poor ignorant inhabitants of the East, and particularly of the Nicobar Islands; and trust that the time will soon come, when, though some of Christ's servants have sowed in tears, others shall reap with joy. May the glory of His saving Name be made manifest in all the earth, and the Gospel be proclaimed in its most dark and distant parts, by the present extended circulation of the Bible, and the exertions of His people of every denomination."

OF SOCIETIES.

Tothe Editorofthe Christian Observer.

Not one of them ever learned the

I COULD earnestly wish that, in your next Number, previous to the public meetings of our religious and charitable societies, some of your correspondents would draw up a few suggestions for conducting them in a right spirit, to the glory of God,

and the welfare of mankind. I will endeavour to open the discussion, by urging two or three considerations which appear to me of some moment. And first, let the committee of each society earnestly pray in secret, and labour in concert, for the attainment of this important object. Next, let them be very anxious that their report be calculated, by the blessing of God, to further it; that it be honest, and unvarnished; a faithful record of facts, written in a spirit of faith, and love, of hope and prayer. Let the secretaries, in selecting the speakers at their anniversary, look out for men of true piety, and acknowledged discretion; not, indeed, overlooking those honourable distinctions in society which are an appointment of Divine Providence, or failing to make just use of them for promoting objects of piety and charity, but at the same time never neglecting to take due precautions that the general complexion of a public meeting may be truly for the use of edifying. Above all, let them beware of being so captivated by shewy talent, or popular acceptability, or even by honest zeal and legitimate eloquence, as to put forward persons, especially younger men, who are deficient in Christian meekness, or sobriety, or humility; or who are so led away by some favourite topic, as to forget the enlarged boundaries of Christian truth; or who are inflated with a a spirit of ostentatious egotism, as if they were charged, like the Prophets of old, with an especial revelation, which they are then and there to deliver, however foreign to the business of the day, or repellent to the feelings and sentiments of the great majority of those assembled, including, perhaps, numerous individuals of riper years, more mature judgment, deeper study of the Scriptures, and equal zeal and piety.

And lastly, with regard to the speakers themselves, let them be particularly upon their guard, lest they mar the great object which they

profess to advocate. In addition to watching against the faults just enumerated, let them avoid extraneous topics, controversial topics, and, above all, invidious topics; let them beware of a harsh, an opinionated, and a denouncing spirit; as if none were so wise, none so zealous, none so scriptural, none so favoured with Divine instruction, as themselves. Men of this temper, even when engaged in a good cause, ought to keep a strict rein over their natural feelings, lest they should mistake them for zeal for God; and, instead of calling down fire from heaven, ought rather to pray,

Let not this weak, this erring hand,
Presume Thy bolts to throw;
And hurl destruction round the land,
On all I deem thy foe.

I might adduce various illustrations from the annals of religious and charitable societies, both in this and other countries; but I forbear. I wish not to wound, but to prevent others wounding, perhaps unintentionally and inadvertently. I will only suggest, in conclusion, the importance of guarding against those extravagances of doctrine, which, however they may seem for a time to awaken zeal, inevitably end in the destruction of active religious energy. A clergyman, now deceased, opposed missionary societies, because they interfered, he said, with God's election: "men did not perish for lack of knowledge, but because they were doomed to perish :" in like manner, Bible societies were instruments, not of mercy, but of vengeance; and in a similar spirit, a Baptist Association in the United States of America, comprising 1851 members, recently passed, without one opposing voice, the following notable resolution:"That as to Missionary societies, Tract societies, Bible societies, and Theological seminaries, we discountenance them, and the practices heretofore resorted to for their support in begging money from the public to back them and that if any person shall come, or be among

us, as agents of any of the above societies, we discountenance them in the practice aforesaid: and, further, should they be under the character of ministers of the Gospel, we will not invite them unto our pulpits; believing these societies and institutions to be inventions of men, and not warranted by the word of God."

This is a spirit which, if it should ever come to prevail among us, would soon paralyse every effort of Christian benevolence, and render us a nation of hard-hearted, selfsatisfied, ultra-doctrinal Antinomians. Let the friends of our societies beware of the first steps towards so lamentable a result.

A FRIENDLY VOICE.

I HAVE had the pleasure for many years of being a member of the Society for promotingChristian Knowledge, and various other excellent institutions connected with our revered church, the meetings of which are devoutly opened with imploring the blessing of God upon the deliberations of the society; but I feel pain in reflecting, that, in performing this religious duty, we are often breaking the laws of our country, which prohibit the reading of a single collect, if more than a very limited number of persons are present. Some years since, an individual who had taken offence at something uttered on one of these occasions, was with difficulty prevented summoning several noblemen, clergymen, and a proportion of decimated individuals, before a magistrate, under the Conventical Act; when, without doubt, they must all have been found guilty of worshiping God in an illegal manner. I beg leave to submit whether such CHRIST. OBSERV. No. 327.

an enactment, so far as it applies to the case I have mentioned, ought not to be repealed. It could never have been seriously intended by a Christian legislature, that twenty gentlemen, meeting for a charitable object, should be involved in the severities of a penal law, if a bishop or clergyman should read the Lord's Prayer, or a collect, or dismiss them with a benediction.

A FRIEND TO ORDER.

THE VISION OF KENELM

Tothe Editorofthe Christian Observer.

IN the interesting Review of Four Years in France, in your Number for January, occurs an extract containing a strange story of a vision seen by the writer and his wife, thirty days after the death of their amiable son Kenelm. Without recapitulating the narrative, which your readers can readily turn to, I would only ask, whether common sense does not prove this Catholic vision to have been merely the result of an over-excited imagination? Combine the many affecting circumstances which must have powerfully impressed the minds of the affectionate parents, with the superstitious notion which they had embraced, that "the term of thirty days has been observed in the Catholic church as that at the end of which revelations have sometimes been made of the happiness of departed souls;" and it will not be difficult to account for any reverie of imagination into which they may have fallen. They had retired to rest at the feverish hour of one in the morning: shortly after which they heard a noise, "like the breaking of a small stick." Such noises are familiar enough in old houses in the silence of the night: the footstep of a servant in another apartment, the creaking of a joist or shutter, a mouse in the wall, or the 2 A