SUMMER HOLIDAYS.

Ir was not left to this restless and fevered cen- | weekly assemblies for listening to the reading and tury to discover the healthy and purifying influ- exposition of the Scriptures and for uniting in comence of loneliness and rest. When the Apostles returned to Christ, excited and weary, after their first great evangelistic journey, "He took them and went aside privately into a desert place;" and after Elijah's tragic and stormy conflict with the priests of Baal, the prophet went away into the wilderness, and spent six weeks among the solitudes of Horeb.

The physical benefits which come from a month among the mountains or by the sea, are obvious; but summer holidays may have other uses which, perhaps, are not so often thought of. Apart altogether from any direct intention to employ the pleasant leisure for the highest ends, most men are the better for it. A precocious child, after reading the inscriptions in a churchyard, which recorded the incomparable virtues of the dead lying beneath, wondered where they buried all the bad people; and I have often wondered, when away from home, where the ill-tempered and irritable people go for their holiday. How genial every one seems to be on a Rhine steamer! Who was ever known to be out of temper on Loch Katrine? Meet a man at the Furca, and walk with him to the Grimsel, and you are sure to find him one of the most kindly of the human race. Share a carriage to Inverary with people you chance to meet at Oban, and you think it would be charming to travel with them for a month. Extortionate bills and rainy weather may ruffle the temper for a moment, but so far as I have observed, if a "tourist ticket" is ever issued to a cantankerous man (of which I have serious doubts), he no sooner gets it into his waistcoat pocket than it acts like a charm. If we could only keep some of our acquaintances always on the top of a Highland coach, or crossing Swiss passes, or climbing Welsh hills, what a happy thing it would be for them-and for us! No theological reading does them half as much good as Murray" or "Baedecker," and a volume of "Black" is more useful to them than a score of sermons.

mon prayer. When the people were rebuked for breaking the fourth commandment, they were rebuked not because they kept away from "church," but because they did their ordinary work on the Sabbath of the Lord. The moral uses of the day were largely secured by keeping it simply as a day of rest.

Among ourselves, week by week, a nobler event is commemorated, and commemorated in a nobler way. The Jewish Sabbath celebrated the final victory of the divine wisdom and power over the ancient chaos, and the divine joy over the perfected beauty and order of the material world; the Christian Sunday celebrates the commencement of the great struggle of the risen Christ with the evil and misery of the human race. The Jewish Sabbath was the last day of the week, and was a rest from past work; the Christian Sunday is the first day of the week, and is a rest in anticipation of coming toil. The one looked back to the consummation of accomplished labours; the other looks forward, and gives strength for labours yet to come. But the instinct of the Church in fencing the Sunday from common work and common care is true and just. The day should be, as far as possible, a day of quietness and peace. Attendance on public worship, though the chief duty of the Sunday, is not its sole use; and when the excitement and labour of the week are continued, though in a different form, on the day of rest, some of its most precious benefits are altogether missed.

Years ago I remember hearing an excellent minister, not distinguished for intellectual vigour, pray on Sunday morning that on that day his congregation might have "intellectual repose." I mockingly thought that, so far as the good man's own sermons were concerned, there was no danger of the repose being disturbed, and that it would have been better if he had prayed for intellectual activity. I have grown wiser since then, and have come to believe that what many men really want on Sunday, if the Sunday is to make them better and stronger for the week, is for the brain and heart to have rest. For the young, the strong, and the speculative, preaching cannot have too much of vigorous and stimulating thought in it; but there are many weary, sorrowful people to whom a preacher renders the most efficient service by causing them to "lie down in green pas

From the very beginning of the world man needed rest, as much for his intellect and heart as for his body. Among the Jews the weekly Sabbath was literally a weekly rest, in commemoration of the rest of God after the creation of the world. In the fourth commandment there is nothing about worship either public or private, and the keeping holy of the Sab-tures," and leading them "beside the still waters." bath day consisted originally in mere absence from work. No doubt part of the day was always spent by devout men in meditation on the greatness of Jehovah, and on the wonderful history and glorious hopes of the descendants of Abraham; and part of it in talking to children about the dark times in Egypt, and about the giving of the law, and about famous warriors and prophets, "of whom the world was not worthy;" but till synagogues were established in every part of the country after the captivity, there were no regular

Perhaps the power to win the thoughts of the anxious away from their troubles, and to soothe the irritated and the fretful, is quite as rare as the power of strenuous argument or vehement appeal.

Our summer holidays, like our Sundays, should give us rest. The month away from home should be the Sabbatic month of the year. The hurrying, eager, unquiet way in which many people spend their holiday, the passion to see everything that is praised in the Guide-book, and to "do" everything that ought

heart, of our own intellectual activity directed to the regions of divine truth, the measure of our religious earnestness would be determined by the vigour and brilliance of our intellectual faculties, and persons unexercised in abstract thought would be placed at a grievous disadvantage. But the simplest truths, when they lead us direct to God, answer all the practical purposes of the most profound thoughts of theologians. A single parable of our Lord's, a well-known promise of mercy and strength, any one of the divine attributes considered in its most obvious aspects and revelations, is enough to open our whole nature to the tides of divine life and joy. The cry of the heart after God will surely be answered; and, allowing for rare and abnormal conditions of the spiritual nature, the Christian man who longs to live and move and have his being in God, has only to separate himself for a time from the agitations and pursuits of his secular life, and he will find himself surrounded with the innumerable company of angels, and in the very presence of the Highest.

Would not the pleasure as well as the lasting profit of a summer holiday be almost infinitely augmented, if part of it at least were set apart and consecrated to this tranquil yet intense contemplation of God, and of the heaven where God dwells? There are some men, I am told, who, when they come home after a month's absence, seem to have forgotten everything about it except the bills they have paid, the dinners they have eaten, the wines they have drunk, and, if they have been abroad, the strange customs of the countries they have visited. There are others whose memory is enriched for all coming years. They can recall the stateliness and majesty of ancient cathedrals,

the splendour of imperial palaces, the look of streets and houses which have become famous in the history of Europe, the awful grandeur and chaotic waste of mountains they have climbed, the dazzling glory of wonderful sunsets, the changing lights which have made river or lake look like a dream of fairy-land. Happier still are those who in addition to such memories as these, can recall how in mountain solitudes it seemed as if the heavens opened and they talked to God face to face; or how when alone by the sea-shore, mists and clouds which had surrounded them for years suddenly broke and melted away, and the divine goodness or the divine justice stood visibly revealed. Pleasant glens and lonely paths among the hills will henceforth have everlasting associations, and will be vividly recalled when the solid earth has melted with fervent heat; for when eternity comes we shall remember most distinctly and most gratefully, not the places where we accumulated our wealth, or won our transient social triumphs, but those where we came to the resolve to live a holier life, and received strength to do it.

Used wisely and earnestly, every successive summer holiday might leave us with larger and nobler thoughts of God, with a loftier ideal of character, with every devout affection more fervent, and every right purpose || invigorated and confirmed. If to secure such results as these it is necessary to keep within the four seas instead of rushing hurriedly over Germany, Switzerland, and France, if it is necessary for those who are taking their holiday in England to leave some famous places in the neighbourhood unseen, and some customary excursions unaccomplished, will not the sacrifice receive abounding compensation?

AMONG THE ALPS.

FROM INDIA.

a mattress, two blankets, sheets and pillows, &c., CRORE MUND BUNGALOW, Oak-Apple day-and a strapped up in a piece of waterproof in the event of proper fine oak-apple day it is, for we do not forget rain. Then the Tahsildar had sent a peon with us to home anniversaries; indeed, it is very probable we keep the Coolies in awe, and as general guard, and, think more of them than do those at home. We rose if necessary, purveyor. We had hired a sure-footed this morning at half-past five, meaning, after a slight | pony, used to the hills, for me to ride; and with our breakfast, to start by half-past six for this place, waterproofs strapped to my saddle, off we set, G—— nearly ten miles from Ootacamund, which is our walking beside me till I went off at a canter so as to head-quarters. However, the Coolies who were to get over the only bit of level in our journey, which carry our goods and chattels did not appear, so we afterwards lay over hill, over dale, through a lovely had to wait in as much patience as we could muster. country with undulating hills, very much like bits Then there was a little worry because, having insisted round Bath, only, of course, on a much larger scale, on seeing the "small round of beef" provided for and the grand rugged line of the Koondahs lying in our three days' sustenance by the hotel butler, we front of us. Beautiful bits of "wood," as you at found it would not do, being altogether a "do," home would say (" sholah" we out here call a patch having been, as our noses plainly found, "rather of forest on a hill-side, in a ravine, on level ground, nigh" before it was cured. By 8 A.M. the Coolies or wherever it occurs), we passed on our way hither, had arrived, and in a fow minutes were all started though in several places the noble trees had been with their different burdens. There were seven of cleared out to make way for tea, or in other spots had them, and among them were distributed a variety of been cut down for firewood, and their vacant places baskets and bundles, and one small tin box contain-filled with young Australians, which grow very ing our changes of raiment. One bundle consisted of rapidly, and are largely planted in Ootacamund itself

to supply firewood, and, as they multiply, to allow of me back a root twisted up like a snake. Presently the lovely sholah trees being spared. We saw we came to a beautiful shady nook, overarched with several munds, or Toda villages, as we came along. trees rich in ferns, such as the Loxogramma involuta, The Toda, utterly uncivilisable as he proves, always Pleopeltis hastata, Pleopeltis lepidota, Niphobolus Gardplaces his "mund" in a lovely spot. We saw one neri, and so on. Climbing round the trunk of one large mund consisting of no less than seven huts; tree we found a creeper, which, when barked, was another mund only had two very small huts. Large just like string, and is used as such by the natives, so herds of the Toda buffaloes were pasturing on the we wound up a quantity of it and put it in our beautiful grassy hill slopes. How long will it be pockets. From this nook there was a lovely glimpse before this singular race, so utterly unlike all the of the stream leaping along its rocky bed, with the other people of India, will die out? There are only sun-flecks across it. If there were but fish in it!— two hundred and twenty individual Todas left. but no, nothing but lovely little green frogs! and There is no doubt they are the remnant of the most funny little nut-brown frogs among the tree-roots remarkable of all the tribes of the continent of and dry leaves on shore! So each thing is fitted for India. Their marked features and handsome appear- its life-station by the kind God who hath made ance, together with their beautiful black hair, which, everything beautiful in its time. G- had a good among the women, flows in long ringlets, and their bathe and swim in the pool, found the water nearly supposed freedom from idol worship, have led some up to his depth, and the temperature very agreeable. people to say that they are the descendants of the lost Then-oh, intense luxury in India!— !-we put chairs tribes. They claim to be "lords of the soil" on the Neil-out in front of the house, and sat "in the cool of the gherries, and Government pays them a yearly tribute for Ootacamund, now that it is a European station. On we fared, beautiful butterflies in crowds flying past us, till at length we came to a stream, which we crossed, and after a sharp up-hill we came to an equally sharp down-hill, and beneath us in the valley we saw this pretty bungalow, looking, with its own thatched roof and those of the "go-downs," or, as you would say, out-houses and stables, quite home-like. The bungalow was built in 1861 by subscription, at the suggestion of Mr. E. B. Thomas, the then collector of Coimbatore, for the convenience of people who wished to explore this lovely part of the country, and to go up Makurty Peak. Here we found three rooms, one sitting and two bed-rooms, and a dark, rough bath-room. The walls are strongly built of wattle and dab, the floor is of mud covered with common matting, and in the middle are the remains of a Bangalore carpet-all that is left of it; a slanting roof, supported on crossway beams and well thatched. The furniture is of the roughest and scantiest. Crore Mund Bungalow deserves to be called a cottage, and is "near a wood" too, and while we were breakfasting we heard a blackbird singing sweetly on one side, and on the other the murmur of the stream hard by, trickling over its rocky bed into a lovely pool about thirty yards below the cottage. As soon as the south-west monsoon sets in, how the water will pour over these rocks and flood every stream!

There is a hedge of cluster roses "in full bearing" round the bungalow, and the hill-sides we passed on our way hither were white with wood anemones. Presently we sallied out for a walk. We rambled along beside the stream, and followed its rocky path; we climbed down among the rocks and gathered ferns, being so fortunate as to find one quite new to us, and to see the Osmunda Regalis growing in right royal style. We sat on the rocks, climbed down to the water's edge, and, schoolboy-like, dipped up our hands full of the clear water to drink. G crossed the rocky bed to the other side, and brought

day," waiting for dinner and reading the Cornhill. Fresh beefsteaks, potatoes, kabob curry, fried plantains, pale ale and sherry, made us a very fair dinner; and this repast over, I set to work to press my ferns. We had buffalo-milk with our tea. It was brought us by a Toda, and was a very superior article to lowcountry buffalo-milk. As we look out at the door we see a sign that we are in India, which the temperature of this delightsome region might lead us to forget, the grass in front is bright with glancing fireflies! We have a good wood fire in the sitting-room, but alas, every bit of smoke, as it goes up this chimney, goes down the chimney of our bedroom, which is dense with it. So we must put out our fire to clear the next room, and then retire to what, by a pleasing fiction, we will call "the downy" couch.

Next morning, up and off to go up Makurty Peak. The morning was extremely clear, but too warm, and we thought it threatened rain. We took two of our Coolies with us to carry the telescope, G———'s gun, and all our other impedimenta, such as claret and sandwiches, and started for our seven miles, up hill and down dale, to the foot of the Peak, which, though not quite the highest point of the Neilgherries, Dodabetta claiming the pre-eminence by a few feet, is much more difficult of ascent, and more noticeable from its peculiar sharp-peaked summit. Moreover, the Todas say that here the keeper of heaven's gate dwells, and that the spirits of dead Todas, and also the souls of the buffaloes slain at their funerals, come here and take a leap from Makurty Peak into paradise, which they call "the other district." They do not venture up Makurty much, so I suppose it comes to symbolise to their simple hearts the entrance to the "Great Unknown." We had to cross the water eight times, and twice the stream was of such size that we did not find it hard to realise how that, the year before, Mr. Schnarre was drowned in trying to cross one of these streams when it was swollen by the monsoon rains. A little farther on and we met with the "ut in Arcadia" which is to be found everywhere in this world, and, as I have often said, the wayside

A NAUTCH AT A NATIVE WEDDING.

A

On the evening of the 20th of June, we went to a grand "Tumâsha," or, as you would call it, "Showoff." The wedding festivities of the son of a wealthy ryot of Chad been going on for a fortnight. I had not yet seen a Nautch, so we agreed to go. ryot, I should tell you, is a cultivator of the soil. This man, whose name is Tirumala Counden, was proud to hear of our intended visit. All the ladies in the cantonment thought they might as well go too, and each formed an excuse for her own intentions from the wishes of her friend. We mustered twelve strong, and set out in two phaetons, one dog-cart (that is a use of words a native cannot comprehend), one bullock-bandy (or coach), and the rest, young officers of the Sappers, on foot. The moon was at the

full, and her lustre, shed over everything, made even our unpicturesque "low country" look beautiful. We met at the house of the assistant collector, and set out on our expedition at 9 P.M. Our way lay past the Tank, which is two and a half miles long, and being at this season full of water, looked like a fine lake. The streets of the town through which we passed were broad, clean, and exceedingly quiet.

Tirumala Counden lives in the Comati street, that is, the street of the tradesmen. I had never before been very near a native house, and was surprised to find it so spacious and well ventilated. The portico at which we alighted was dressed with flowers and streamers. We marshalled ourselves into procession three abreast, and passed in through a vestibule with richly ornamented ceiling, and thronged

The Car (Vahana) of the Temple at Seringham.-From a Drawing by a Native.

with white-robed Brahmins and "mild Hindus," to the "visit-room," or, as you would say, "drawingroom." Here we found a space had been set apart for us, and two rows of the usual Anglo-Indian armchairs ranged vis-à-vis. A small round table separated us from the Asiatic end of the room-I mean the end where the native guests were sitting, after their manner, on their heels. This table was spread with dishes of plantains, mangoes, sugarcandy, also wine-glasses and tumblers, very nice engraved ones. The table-cover, I should tell you, was one of those thick droguet ones with a very gorgeous flowery pattern. The brilliance of the room made

me think of the wondrous stories of the Arabian Nights. The room was long and narrow, being really of the shape of a T-square; from the ceiling, at the long end where we sat, hung a large cut-glass chandelier of either English or French make. Many candle-shades of various colours, in groups of three, were fixed in different places. At the four corners of this end of the room were stands, consisting of three circles of lights, one above another, connected by a central stem. They looked like gas-lit circlets, but were of oil. Lights fixed in coloured glass shades, blue, green, violet, &c., were sown broad-cast about the room, at the far end of which was a great