who read these remarks, is too lamentably descriptive of his career. But even could it be proved, which is utterly out of the question, that there was no cruelty in horse-racing, its immoral tendency were sufficient to induce every right-thinking man to discountenance it. Look at the roads from London to Ascot or Epsom at the time of the races; and is it possible to conceive a more lamentable picture of human nature, a more depressing manifestation of the fearful prevalence of vice? Examine the character of those who congregate, not merely at Newmarket or Doncaster, but at the more private country races; and say if such a mass of moral pollution in every shape can elsewhere be congregated. Perhaps there is no situation more entirely adverse to the reception of religious impressions than that of a horse-jockey or a training-groom; they live in heathenism in a Christian land. It is true there may be carriages filled with the families of the neighbourhood, with females ignorant of the polluted atmosphere which has surrounded them, who drive off from the course as soon as the race is over, to prepare for the afternoon ordinary or the evening ball; but if this sanctions the race-course in the eyes of the worldling, who may have some little scruple as to its propriety, it cannot sanctify it in the eyes of a true Christian. The circumstance that races are attended by families of respectability, is only the more to be deplored. The effect on the minds of their members cannot fail to be pernicious. The consequence is often ruinous in the last degree; and the parent who countenances the attendance of his children, sons or daughters, at such a scene, may be leading them into temptations which may embitter the remainder of their lives, and cause himself inexpressible remorse and self-condemnation. Surely it is not too much to say, that the circumstance of a family countenancing horse-racing is a certain evidence that, whatever its professions may be, it has not been brought under the influence of vital and soul-saving religion.

But let the advocate for, or at least the palliator of, horse-racing witness the angry passions which are called forth on the stands, or on the course-let him enter the booths for refreshment, resounding with the drunken roar of licentious revelry-let him extend his walk to the outskirts of the course, and witness the gambling, in a humbler degree, going on among the humbler classes-let him linger till night draws on,and then assuredly, unless the eyes of his understanding are darkened, he will be led to the acknowledgment, that the tendency of such scenes as he has witnessed, must be to demoralise the minds of those who take a part in them. It were impossible to soil these pages with an account of the obscenities, in various shapes, which are almost the invariable accompaniments of the race; or to portray the total want of principle in those who resort to such scenes for the purpose of swindling, and to whose wiles many a thoughtless man becomes a dupe. Can any character be more awful than that of a black-leg? and yet with such, not a few of the great and wealthy of the land are not ashamed to associate. Too much praise cannot be bestowed on the excellent "Society for the Suppression of Vice," for the energetic endeavours of its managing committee to stem the tide of moral pollution. It is impossible to urge its claims too strongly on the support of the public. It has done much already, and, if its funds will allow it, may do much

more.

But it will be said, that though this may be no exaggerated description of the vice abounding on the course, yet a person may simply go and see the races, and return home when they are over. But may not indirect evil arise from this? Such a mode of arguing is very much like that adopted by those who think there is no harm in attending a theatre, provided there be no intercourse with its usually licentious

attendants. The cases, indeed, do not entirely coincide; for in the latter he who witnesses the play must have in all probability paid a sum for admission to the theatre, which so far tends to its support; whereas on the race-course, no pecuniary support may be given. Let it be recollected, however, that this very attendance is an indirect support to its vices and enormities.

Perhaps there is nothing more disgusting to a cultivated mind, even uninfluenced by Christian principle, than the perusal of what is termed a sporting newspaper. Having occasion lately to call for refreshment at a small country inn, the hostess brought a newspaper into the room, remarking, however, at the same time, with a confused look, " Perhaps you would not like to read it, sir. It is a Sunday sporting newspaper; and we take in no other." It might have been more consistent had I refused to receive it; but I confess I was anxious to ascertain its contents with reference to those very remarks.I am now making, Glancing over its pages, I had little difficulty in arriving at the conclusion that such a publication must have the worst effect on the minds of its readers; though it could not be ranked exactly with those grossly licentious publications which are issuing almost daily from the press, and undermining the principles of thousands of the rising generation.* It testified to the full extent the evils of the racecourse. It recorded Sabbaths spent in preparation for the festivities of the coming week, as well as in betting on the probable results of the races. One single paper, containing the record of one week's sport, was enough to convince every right-minded man of the irreligious tendency of such amusements, and how much the subject bears on the desecration of the Lord's day. 1 grieved to find that, at the village-inn referred to, the afternoon of the Sabbath was invariably spent, by those who frequented the tap, in the perusal of the publication referred to. Need I add, the effect was most pernicious?

The object of these remarks is to dissuade, if possible, any before whom they may be brought from attending the races, or countenancing them in any way; and to impress upon parents and masters, who have the responsibility of the conduct of others committed to their care, the absolute duty of forbidding their being present. Need I remind my clerical brethren, that they should make the evils of such places of amusement a frequent subject of exhortation and remark, and that they should use their influence to remove, if possible, these moral pests? Obloquy will probably be heaped upon them, as many have experienced; and they will be abused as the enemies of rational recreation: be it so; still they have a Master to serve, whose will is to be their law; they have souls to labour to be instrumental in saving; and these souls may receive unspeakable injury from the moral pestilence with which they are surrounded.

Incalculable indeed is the mischief that may arise on the race-ground. To that dangerous spot may be traced the ruin of many of the young of both sexes. There the wicked heart may find much to nourish the rank, obnoxious weeds which luxuriate in its soil; there the first decisive step may be taken from the paths of rectitude, which will lead to the chambers of never-ending woe. Surely, then, no effort should be spared, no caution should be lost, to remove from unhallowed ground those who, in the thoughtlessness and gaiety of youth, may perceive no harm at all as likely to result from their attendance.

We shall very speedily bring this subject, an exceedingly delicate one, before our readers.-ED.

+ See our Mag. No. xxxv. p. 34, containing an extract from the Bp. of London's (Blomfield) Letter on the present Neglect of the Lord's day.

SUNDAY REFLECTIONS.-No. XIV.
BY MRS. RILEY.

THE JOURNEY TO EMMAUS,
Luke, xxiv. 13, &c.

EMMAUS, though only an insignificant village in a distant land, yet seems stamped by affection upon our imagination, as a place we should delight to visit, and while traversing its rocky road, recall the narrative of a journey thither, begun in sorrow, but ended in joy.

When Cleopas and his companion, with burdened hearts and saddened countenances, began their pilgrimage, perhaps to convey to some fellow-disciple the strange tidings they almost feared to credit, how little did they imagine they should so soon retrace their steps, all doubt and fear dispelled, and hope confirmed by certainty! And even yet, how frequently do those who set out upon some toilsome path of duty, find, ere they have journeyed long, that there is still a companion on the way, whose cheering influence dispels its danger or its difficulty, while their hearts are warmed by the gracious encouragement of his words, though their eyes may be withholden from knowing him in all his fulness!

Cleopas, the husband of one of the Marys, who had lingered by the cross of her Lord and visited his tomb at sunrise, was a kinsman of the mother of Jesus; and being himself also a disciple, would feel disposed to yield credence to the information of his wife, that He whom they mourned was risen. St. Luke does not tell us the name of his companion on the journey to Emmaus:-might it be the evangelist himself? By some commentators, St. Luke has been supposed to have been one of the seventy disciples selected by Christ himself to spread the glad tidings of the Gospel. If this were the case, we can easily imagine that he would accompany his Master to Jerusalem at his last passover. And there is a minuteness with which the details of this little episode are related, that seems to betray the accuracy of an eye-witness; while the omission of the name of the "other disciple" who accompanied Cleopas, would only accord with the modesty apparent in the writings of another evangelist, who describes himself as him "whom Jesus loved."

crucified Nazarene-" we trusted that it had been he that should have redeemed Israel." That stumblingblock of the Jews yet lay in their way; the vail yet remained upon their hearts: but he was come to roll away the rock of offence, and lay a precious cornerstone for their faith; to rend the vail of unbelief, and shew the spiritual nature of that salvation they looked for as temporal; and while they beheld in his sufferings and death the overthrow of their hope, he was about to prove those very sufferings its only sure foundation: "for without shedding of blood there is no remission of sin."

"Then they who feared the Lord spake often one to another, and the Lord hearkened and heard it" (Mal. iii. 16). And so engrossed were these travellers with the all-absorbing subject of their Master's passion, that he had joined them unperceived, and now condescended to mingle in their conversation, and inquire the cause of their anxiety. They felt that the recent transactions at Jerusalem were so important, that absence from the scene could alone excuse ignorance. "Art thou a stranger?" O no! their new companion was no stranger, either to their perplexity, or to their trembling faith; he knew that the desire of their hearts was, "Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief:" and now he was about to repeat his gracious declaration," according to your faith be it unto you." Still, though regarding him as a stranger, or it might even prove a persecutor, they feared not to bear testimony to the honour of the despised Jesus, as "a prophet mighty in word and in deed," nor to confess the faith they had reposed in the

Referring to the Scriptures as the ground of their belief, he began at the books of Moses, tracing the current of prophecy from its rise in paradise, the gleam of hope vouchsafed to our fallen parents in a future seed who should bruise the serpent's head; the promise to Abraham," in thy seed shall all the

families of the earth be blessed," confirmed to Isaac, and rendered more definite to Jacob; the testimony of Moses, "The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet, from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me, unto him shall ye hearken;" and the traditionary prophecy of Balaam, " There shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel." Although the voice of prophecy slumbered for awhile, it awoke in Hannah's triumphant strain, "The Lord shall give strength unto his King, and exalt the horn of his Anointed" (or Messiah); and David delighted to dwell upon the glory of Him who was to be at once his Lord and his son. As the fulness of time drew nigh, prophecy grew more distinct; the circumstances of his miraculous birth, its time and place, were minutely recorded; and the sacred canon was closed by the promise of a messenger, to announce the coming of Him thus fully and clearly revealed.

Still, this recital would only recall the sorrow of the dejected disciples. Alas! we delighted to trace these glorious promises to our nation fulfilled in Jesus; we acknowledged him to be the Son of God, the King of Israel; and we vainly "trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed his people." Then again did the gracious Teacher retrace his lesson, and opened to them the Scriptures; shewing that not more clearly did they reveal his future triumphs than they did his previous humiliation. The bruised heel-the promised seed yielded a willing sacrifice the contradiction of sinners endured by Moses the sorrowful strains from David's harp, when the awful scenes of the crucifixion passed in their minuteness before his vision-the desponding complaint of Isaiah, "Who hath believed our report?" or in that marred visage and stricken form beheld either beauty or comeliness, "that they should desire him"the summons, 61 Awake, O sword, against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts"-the smitten shepherd-the scattered flock-the goodly price for which he should be betrayed,-all these evidences of his sufferings and rejection, previously passed over with wonder or repugnance, would now flash upon the minds of the disciples with the light of conviction; and when applied by such an Expounder, no wonder that their hearts burned within them, and that they wished for lengthened communion with so gentle yet powerful a Teacher. But it was finished; his errand

was accomplished; reason and revelation were proved to agree; the Scriptures were displayed in their full light, and the bread of eternal life blessed and dispensed to them: Christ's presence there was no longer needful; one glimpse of his individuality was graciously vouchsafed, and "Jesus ceased to be seen of them.”

The injunction to Peter, "when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren," seems to have been the governing motive of these two favoured friends, who, unmindful of fatigue, of the gathering shades of evening, and the length and dangers of the road, rose up the same hour, bearing the glad tidings to the disciples at Jerusalem, and receiving from them the same joyful intelligence," the Lord is risen indeed." Surely their labour of love was amply requited when the presence of their beloved Saviour appeared again amongst them, and bestowed the gentle salutation, "Peace be unto you."

Why is this interesting narrative recorded? Is it not profitable both "for doctrine and instruction in righteousness?" It manifests the value of the Old Testament, and the watchful care with which at all periods God never left himself without witness to his justice, as well as to his love and mercy; exemplifying, by typical sacrifices, that "the wages of sin is death," and maintaining thereby a belief in the efficacy of a vicarious atonement; while the sure word of prophecy carried along its course the hope of a Saviour, who should be given to take away the sin of the world. The pride of intellect is humbled by finding the inefficacy of reason, though assisted by hope, until aided by the Spirit of God; how promises of mercy and peace may be read and studied, yet fail to warm the heart until enlightened by the Sun of Righteousness. And the lesson is learned by the conduct of the disciples at Emmaus, that when the Saviour is known, not only by the hearing of the ear, but by the eye of faith, our first duty is to endeavour to display him in his fulness to our companions along the way of life, our fellow-heirs to life eternal.

We have the testimony of the new covenant to elucidate the prophecies and ordinances of the old, and are promised the assistance of the Holy Spirit to convince of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment: while, therefore, we acknowledge with our lips, that Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation, let us pray that our hearts may be endued with a right judgment in all things, that we may neither wrest the sacred oracles to our own destruction, nor remain ignorant of that blessed Saviour of whom they testify.

MOHAMMEDAN SLAVERY.*

THE pasha of Egypt professed not to know that his army had been employed in slave-hunts for the purpose of discharging arrears of pay; but he admitted he was aware that his officers had carried on the slavetrade for their own account, "a conduct of which he by no means approved." The enterprise of a traveller, Count de Laborde, who has lately returned from Nubia and Egypt, will enable me to introduce those of my readers who have not seen his work (Chasse aux Nègres, Leon De Laborde, Paris, 1838), to the scenes of cruelty and devastation perpetrated

• From "The African Slave-Trade," by T. F. Buxton, Esq.

by the pasha's troops, which he has graphically described.

The narrative, of which I can only give a brief outline, was communicated to him by a French officer, who went to Cairo in 1828, and resided ten years in Egypt.

M. there learnt that four expeditions, called gaswahs, annually set out from Obeid, the capital of Kordofan, towards the south, to the mountains inhabited by the Nubas negroes. The manner and object of their departure are thus described :- "One day he heard a great noise; the whole village appeared in confusion; the cavalry were mounted, and the infantry discharging their guns in the air, and increasing the uproar with their still more noisy hurras. M.

-, on inquiring the cause of the rejoicing, was exultingly told, by a follower of the troop, "it is the gaswah." "The gaswah! for what-gazelles?” “Yes, gazelles; here are the nets, ropes, and chains; they are to be brought home alive." On the return of the expedition, all the people went out, singing and went out also, dancing, to meet the hunters. M.

wishing to join in the rejoicing. He told Count Laborde he never could forget the scene presented to his eyes. What did he see? What gain did these intrepid hunters, after twenty days of toil, drag after them? Men in chains; old men carried on litters, because unable to walk; the wounded dragging their weakened limbs with pain, and a multitude of children following their mothers, who carried the younger ones in their arms. Fifteen hundred negroes, corded, naked, and wretched, escorted by four hundred soldiers in full array. This was the gaswah-these the poor gazelles taken in the desert. He himself afterwards accompanied one of these gaswahs. The expedition consisted of four hundred Egyptian soldiers, one hundred Bedouin cavalry, and twelve village chiefs, with peasants carrying provisions. On arriving at their destination, which they generally contrive to do before dawn, the cavalry wheel round the mountain, and by a skilful movement form themselves into a semi-circle on one side, whilst the infantry enclose it on the other. The negroes, whose sleep is so profound that they seldom have time to provide for their safety, are thus completely entrapped. At sunrise the troops commence operations by opening a fire on the mountain with musketry and cannon; immediately the heads of the wretched mountaineers may be seen in all directions, among the rocks and trees, as they gradually retreat, dragging after them the young and infirm. Four detachments armed with bayonets, are then despatched up the mountain in pursuit of the fugitives, whilst a continual fire is kept up from the musketry and cannon below, which are loaded only with powder, as their object is rather to dismay than to murder the inhabitants. The more courageous natives, however, make a stand by the mouths of the caves dug for security against their enemies. throw their long poisoned javelins, covering themselves with their shields, while their wives and children stand by them and encourage them with their voices; but when the head of the family is killed, they surrender without a murmur. When struck by a ball, the negro, ignorant of the nature of the wound, may generally be seen rubbing it with earth till he falls through loss of blood. The less courageous fly with their families to the caves, whence the hunters expel them by firing pepper into the hole. The negroes, blind and suffocated, run into the snares previously prepared, and are put in irons. If after the firing no one makes his appearance, the hunters conclude that the mothers have killed their children, and the husbands their wives and themselves. When the negroes are taken, their strong attachment to their families and lands is apparent. They refuse to stir, some clinging to the trees with all their strength, while others embrace their wives and children so

They

If

closely, that it is necessary to separate them with the sword; or they are bound to a horse, and are dragged over brambles and rocks until they reach the foot of the mountain, bruised, bloody, and disfigured. they still continue obstinate, they are put to death. Each detachment having captured its share of the spoil, returns to the main body, and is succeeded by others, until the mountain, "de battue en battue," is depopulated. If from the strength of the position, or the obstinacy of the resistance, the first assault is unsuccessful, the general adopts the inhuman expedient of reducing them by thirst. This is easily effected by encamping above the springs at the foot of the mountain, and thus cutting off their only supply of water. The miserable negroes often endure this siege for a week; and may be seen gnawing the bark of trees to extract a little moisture, till at length they are compelled to exchange their country, liberty, and families for a drop of water. They every day approach nearer, and retreat on seeing the soldiers, until the temptation of the water shewn them becomes too strong to be resisted. At length they submit to have the manacles fastened on their hands, and a heavy fork suspended to their necks, which they are obliged to lift at every step.

The march from the Nuba mountains to Obeid is short. From thence they are sent to Cairo. There the pasha distributes them as he thinks proper. The aged, infirm, and wounded, are given to the Bedouins, who are the most merciless of masters, and exact their due of hard labour with a severity proportioned to the probable short duration of the lives of their unhappy victims.

At Obeid alone 6000 human beings are annually dragged into slavery, and that at the cost of 2000 more, who are killed in the capture. The king of Darfur also imports for sale yearly 8000 or 9000 slaves, a fourth of whom usually die during the fatigues of a forced march; they are compelled, by the scarcity of provisions, to hurry forward with all speed. In vain the exhausted wretches supplicate for one day's rest; they have no alternative but to push on, or be left behind, a prey to the hungry jackals and hyænas. "On one occasion," says the narrator, "when, a few days after the march of a caravan, I rapidly crossed the same desert, mounted on a fleet dromedary, I found my way by the newly-mangled human carcasses, and by them I was guided to the nightly halt."

Dr. Holroyd, whom I have already mentioned, in a letter to me, of date 14th January, 1839, says, in reference to these "gazouas" of the Egyptian troops, "I should think, if my information be correct, that, in addition to 7000 or 8000 taken captive, at least 1500 were killed in defence or by suffocation at the time of being taken; for I learnt that, when the blacks saw the troops advancing, they took refuge in caves; the soldiers then fired into the caverns, and, if this did not induce them to quit their places of concealment, they made fires at the entrances, and either stifled the negroes, or compelled them to surrender. Where this latter method of taking them was adopted, it was not an uncommon circumstance to see a female with a child at her breast, who had been wounded by a musket-ball, staggering from her hiding-place, and dying immediately after her exit."

The Cabinet.

REASON AND FAITH.-Brethren, it is well to learn early in the spiritual life this great truth, that there are many points in our earthly pilgrimage where reason must be content to follow faith blindfold that there are depths in religion where the strongest reason will infallibly be drowned, unless supported in the arms of faith-that the dearest child in God's redeemed family must often be satisfied, when he feels his Father's

66

hand, whether in providence or grace, to be unable to trace his Father's footsteps. Even David was compelled to say, "Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters; and thy footsteps are not known." Yet at the very time he said so, he devoutly and beautifully adds, "Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary." Though it be a way of darkness, it is still a way of holiness and truth. So, again, does the same Psalmist declare of Israel of old, They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in." For forty years was this trial continued to them, yet he adds, “God led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation." Though the footsteps of the Lord be hidden, they are still within the sanctuary; though the way be long and wearisome, it is still the right way. Such, we scruple not to say, in every individual instance, shall we find it; and when we look down upon the road, as seen from the habitations of the heavenly city, and trace it from the far-distant country from which we came, and observe all its trackless windings, and its now-unintelligible turnings, we shall clearly perceive that none other could have carried us to the many mansions of our Father's house.-Elisha, by the Rev. Henry Blunt, A.M.

CHRIST, AND NOT PETER, THE ROCK.-After all, it would be difficult to comprehend on what principle the primacy of the popes could be established, even were it granted that they were successors of St. Peter, and his successors in any sense of the word which they might choose to adopt. If bishops, who preside where a Church was founded by an apostle, have on that account a title to precedence, the bishops of Corinth, Thessalonica, Ephesus, and of other Churches founded by St. Paul, had as good a right to precedence as the Bishop of Rome. Ay, but St. Paul, they say, was not equal in rank to St. Peter, who was the prince of apostles. Now St. Paul has himself positively denied such precedence. He says (2 Cor. xi. 5), that he "was not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles." It is further argued, that St. Peter was the rock on which the Church was built. So, indeed, he was. He was the rock on which the Church of Jerusalem was built; the Church which was the mother of all Churches, and which, if the arguments of the Romanists were valid, might claim to be the mistress of all Churches. At this very day there is a patriarch of Jerusalem, who, though he possesses no patrimony from St. Peter, has an infinitely stronger claim to the primacy among Christians than the pope of Rome.Bp. Herbert Marsh's Comparative View of the Churches of England and Rome.

Poetry.

THE BONDAGE OF ISRAEL.*

(JUDGES, Vi.)

OH! Israel, dark was the doom of thy nation,

When the spoilers of Midian prevail'd o'er thy pride;

When thy children were scatter'd in wide desolation, And forced in the dens of the mountains to hide.

They cried to the Lord to retract his just sentence:

He heard them; and soon, at his bidding, arose A prophet, to melt their hard hearts to repentanceA champion, to humble the might of their foes.

No outward destroyers our land are oppressing;

But, alas, we have foes who assault from withinHow many, perchance, whom I now am addressing, Have struggled for years in the bondage of sin!

• From Poems by Mrs. Abdy.