Musseeh assured me that several Sepahees had expressly told him, "We are heartily disposed to embrace the truth, but these consequences are too painful for us to endure."

Surely, however, we may venture to indulge the hope that such consequences will not follow, but that we may yet live to see the day, when a similar reply may be made respecting the Christian Sepahees, as once was given to the late General H-respecting the pious soldiers of H. M.'s 14th Foot. "What sort of fellows are these," said the general to the officer who then commanded them, "for whom the chaplain is pleading to build them a private reading-room? He calls them 'his men."" "The best men," said the major, "in the whole regiment. I only wish they were all his men."" "Then," exclaimed the general, "they shall have their room."

'H. F.'

Such, then, was the issue of this important case. Against the individual in question no charge could be made, except that he had become a Christian, but that sufficed, and he was dismissed from the ranks. Did this special case rule a general principle or not? Assuredly, with reference to those who were disposed to inquire, it must have done so, at least for a considerable time. By them it must have been regarded as an understood principle, that for a Sepoy to become a Christian was to incur the certain displeasure of the Government, and that long continued to be a stumbling-block and hindrance.

THE MONTHLY

CHRISTIAN SPECTATOR.

DECEMBER, 1857.

"The Pulse of the Church:" A Query.

Br V. M.

(WHICH THE READER WILL FIND IS NOT TO BE READ 'VERBI MINISTER.')

MR. TRENCH and others who have written on The Study of Words have shown how the ancient mythologies have influenced even the every-day language of modern common life. I wonder whether the present writer may suggest that the 'Metamorphoses' in particular would seem to have exercised some measure of unsuspected influence over the formation of thought and expression still in common use. How else, pray, are we to account for the idea that lies at the basis of a wish, by no means unseldom heard, to be, for an hour or so, 'a little mouse,' in some particular and designated place? said mouse evidently to retain human intelligence, and understand human speech, and also to be able, on once more resuming the human form divine, to preserve the remembrance of things heard in the mural state. ""Mural?"quoth Uncle Walker; why mural is pertaining to a wall!' 'All right, Gov'nor,' replies little Jacky; 'from mus-muris, a mouse, you know;' and resumes his 'Punch.' At which piece of prodigious etymological erudition uncle looks admiringly over his spectacles at the miraculous boy, and augurs he will be an archbishop at the very least. The reader may put this little bit of Pre-Raphaelite home-life painting in a parenthesis if he likes, or cut it out altogether; for my own part I go with Pilate, δ γέγραφα γέγραφα.

Well, everybody knows, whether Ovid et hoc omne genus have anything to do with it or not, that such phenomenal mouses (your pardon, fastidious reader! mice would not answer my purpose, as being somewhat too redolent of disagreeable associations) are still possible, and actually extant; and, indeed, that society, sometimes on the large

scale, but more commonly on the smaller, has been not a little indebted to such unsuspected presence.

Æsop, it seems, was acquainted with a conversible 'country mouse,' and eke a city one. But both these were mere pagan creatures, and of the olden time. The present paper owes its origin to a quite modern mouse, and aye a Christian one. 'A church-mouse, then,' says one. Wrong; a chapel-mouse, which I trow is nowise related. And thus it happened:

In one of our English counties, either north of the Thames or else south, there is a venerable old Nonconformist church, the vestry connected wherewith is the scene of the following murally reported conversation. Let the reader picture to himself a heavy, dingy building, in a back street of the busy, bustling, commercial town; a building which, if it speaks to the passer-by at all, says quite plainly, 'Don't come in here! Don't come! Don't!' If it happen to be Sunday, and a stranger does venture in, the manners of the people and the prevailing air of the place still say to him, 'Don't come here again! Don't come again! Don't!' And nineteen out of twenty that had so ventured are certain to reply, 'No, we won't come here again; won't come again; that's what we won't.' For a stranger was sure to be treated as an intruder. He would have to stand some time in the aisle, unnoticed; and, when put into a highbacked, uncomfortable pew, would receive no courtesy; and after the 'Benediction,' which he would think had no business to be pronounced in such a place, he might depart without a kind greeting word from any one. And so everything concurred to say to him, 'Don't come here again,' except, indeed, the minister, Mr. Fiennes, who was wearing out brain and heart in a thankless, though earnestly conscientious service, with everything to tell against him and counteract his almost single-handed labour, which you may well say was one ' of love.'

He was absent from home on our present occasion, summoned to the sudden death-bed of an eldest daughter; so that the conducting of the Monday evening service had devolved on one of the deacons. He was a short, thick-set man, with a round bullet-head; strong, wiry, black hair, cut close; he thought his voice was admirably adapted for base,' but being naturally very harsh, and now what they call 'cracked' by age, even flattery itself was usually silent when he gave utterance to this pleasant conviction. He had a sufficient sense of the 'opportunity' that had occurred, and read the hymns in a style that admirably corresponded with his voice; but, whether David or Doctor Watts would have been the more disconcerted, there is no knowing. After giving out and singing six verses of a long metre hymn, he stumbled and blundered through the divinest chapter in all the Testament, the seventeenth of John, so murdering its heavenly majesty and pathos as to convince you he never read much in private, even of the Scriptures, and to draw from our mural listener the indignant assertion that he could have squeaked it more reverently and impressively than the other read it.' After which, there

being no other 'praying member' present at the beginning of the service, he prayed himself; and the vestry mouse adds that he seemed to be 'praying against time, for he looked at his watch twice, and to the door several times; indeed, as often as it opened.' He rejoiced in the name of Scruff-Mr. Solomon Scruff.

Eventually, three or four of the brethren dropped in, one after another, and were all called on to 'engage,' for, as Mr. Scruff afterwards acknowledged in the hearing of our mural reporter, he asked two 'because they could pray pretty well, and the others lest they should be offended at being passed over!'

Mr. Gollop was a large, heavy-faced, small-eyed man, and seemed to think that neither praise nor petition constituted any part of prayer, but communication; and our vestry mouse avers that, if he were not withheld by a native sense of propriety, he should be in danger of suggesting that the information conveyed was superfluous on the face of it, seeing that every sentence was prefaced by the assur"Thou knowest."

ance,

Then a poor, pale, sickly man was called on, who was almost too weak for the effort, but who seemed to have a deep sense of both the majesty and goodness of God, to whom he appeared to have real access. It was touching to see and hear him. He had a white apron twisted round his middle, as though he had just come in from some mechanical employment, perhaps weaving; his countenance wore a very subdued expression, some would have termed it meekness, others sadness. The Saviour and the gospel were evidently blessed realities to him; and, in spite of an uncultivated pronunciation, and now and then a phrase which fastidiousness might have objected to, there was that tone of earnest faith in his prayer which made the few minutes he occupied very devotionally acceptable, although it was painful to detect the presence of symptoms which probably would not suffer him to repeat the exercise many more times. I was grieved to learn afterwards, from our confidential reporter, that 'Mr. Scruff was very impatient during this prayer, and exchanged with another individual several significant glances of non-sympathy with the utterances of this humble brother.'

The person who followed deemed that the meeting had been let down a peg too low, by that well-meaning, but utterly incompetent, good man, Brother Meek,' and undertook to bring it back. He was fluent, but bombastic and loud; had an unusual copia verborum; and there might, perhaps, have been fitness in some portions of his prayer, had there been anything at all of devotion in it. He was fidgety during the rest of the service, and, some time before the last singing was finished, shut his hymn-book, and put it away, buttoned up his coat, drew his hat nearer to him, put on his gloves, and looked every half minute or oftener impatiently at Brother Scruff, who, being in the chair, did not find the time so long as Brother Frothwell.

However, when all was over, he was not suffered to escape in a hurry, for a confab took place on the state of things in general, and more particularly about our prayer-meetings. Some six or seven persons staid, detained chiefly by Mr. Daddle, a somewhat portly

A QUERY. Christian, with a smoothly-shaven face, and shining bald head, who, with a blue coat, light kerseymere waistcoat, and drab breeches and gaiters, bore at a distance a faint resemblance to the gentleman of a by-gone generation. He thought an important manner, with a good deal of ah-ha-ing between his words, became him, and impressed his associates with a sense of his position; for he was a retired slop-seller, and treasurer to the church meeting in Dark-lane chapel.

'I should like-a-gentlemen-ah-to see our-a-prayer meetings-a-a-better attended. And-a-now that our pastor-ahha-is-a-out of the way-ah-I think-ah-we could not do better-ah-ha-than-a-just take the matter into our-a-sensible

consideration.'

'Hear! hear!' said Mr. Scruff; ' that's my unanimous opinion. So, Mr. Daddle in the chair, brethren.' Mr. Daddle modestly hesitated a moment, then drew from his pocket a newspaper, a pamphlet (which afterwards turned out to be an old catalogue of a sale), some papers tied up with red tape, and two or three letters. Holding all these in his right hand, and looking the dignified chairman to perfection, he assumed the large old-fashioned, low-backed, semi-circular chair, which the successive pastors of Dark-lane chapel had occupied for nearly a century.

'Well, then-a-gentlemen-ah-since it is our-a-reciprocal desire-ah-let it be so-ha. And now that the question—a—a— has been so-a-felicitously opened-ha-the chair will be happya-to hear-a-what you have to say-ah.'

We

The notes of our reporter are too voluminous to be printed. shall merely state in brief that these excellent men sat in council for more than two hours on the reasons why their prayer-meetings were so miserably attended.' But though the several speakers went about the bush, and about the bush,' or, to speak in more approved style, went from Dan to Beersheba, they all came to what Mr. Scruff called the 'pint' at last; and the chapel-mouse heard that the reason of it all lay with the minister.' 'We want rousing you see; and, unfortunately, our good man is not much of a rouser.' And it was agreed, that all that was wanted was for the minister to urge the people to come. Prayer-meetings were affirmed to be 'the pulse of the church;' and it was declared that 'prosperity was out of the question, until the prayer-meetings were held in far higher estimation than at present.'

So Messrs. Scruff, Daddle, Frothwell, and others, had it all their own way, paying no attention to the poor, pale, consumptive brother, who was well named Meek, and who had not spoken, and not noticing that a Mr. Seeclear was present, who had seated himself in a retired position; else, it is probable, they would not have been so fluent. But when, eventually, the excellent brethren proceeded to deplore their minister's evident 'indifference to prayer-meetings: and then, of course unconsciously, to confound indifference to such prayer meetings as were held in Dark-lane chapel with insensibility to the importance of prayer;' and then, further, to pour out no end of predictions that 'there could be no revival for this "hill of Zion," while such ministerial apathy existed,' Mr. Seeclear threw in a