to us? Does not everybody fancy his own glass, his penknife, or his pen ?" "Well, I see you wish to find an excuse for me. Let us rather own frankly that everybody has his foibles: I blush for mine; but yet I remember having read somewhere that the sage Locke was passionate. Go down first: I shall follow you." A few minutes afterwards he appeared, and sat down to table, mimicking the timid awkwardness of a naughty child that expects a scolding. Some persons present, who told the story, assured us that they never saw him so amiable.-Barriere's French Historical Memoirs.

VOLTAIRE'S CONFESSION.

M. DE VOLTAIRE's partisans, not being able to deny the fact of his confession, which is too publicly known, are now trying to efface the disagreeable impressions it may produce by representing it as an act of derision; in proof of which, they repeat his reply to the Curé who was exhorting him to re-enter the pale of the Church. "You are right, M. le Curé: we should die in the religion of our fathers. Were I on the banks of the Ganges, I should wish to expire with a cow's-tail in my hand." The following is his declaration of faith :-" I, the undersigned, declare, that being attacked at eighty-four years of age with a vomiting of blood, and being unable to drag myself to church, M. le Cure of St. Sulpice has added to his good works that of sending to me the Abbé Gautier, to whom I have made my confession; and that, if God dispose of me, I die in the holy Catholic religion, in which I was born, hoping that the divine mercy will pardon all my sins; and that, if I have scandalized the Church, I beg pardon of God and it.-VOLTAIRE. March 2d, 1778, in the house of M. the Marquis de Villette, in presence of M. l'Abbé Mignot, my nephew, and M. the Marquis de Villevieille, my friend."-Ibid.

VOLTAIRE'S DEATH-BED.

M. DE VOLTAIRE died last night, at eleven o'clock. As the Priests refuse to bury him, and his friends dare not send his body to Ferney, where his tomb is waiting him, they are seeking means to get over the difficulty. A little before his death, the Pastor, whose charity is indefatigable, again approached his bed, and asked him if he believed in the divinity of Jesus Christ. The dying man hesitated a moment, and then answered, "Monsieur le Curé, laissez-moi mourir en paix." He turned himself, and expired. -Ibid.

INDOLENCE OF THE LATE

SIR C. WETHERELL.

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A FRIEND of ours, who happened to be serving his articles with an eminent solicitor in London, was instructed by his principal to call on Sir Charles with a document, setting forth a case in which was involved a vast sum of money. Sir Charles's opinion was requested. Our friend, then quite a youth, called. Sir Charles was busy. He desired the officials to request the young gentleman to call to-morrow. He did so,

and received the same notice.

The case was one of great urgency. On the document Iwas marked a notice to that effect. Sir Charles, however, was, or appeared to be, always engaged; and the regular visit of our young friend was repeated with the same noresult during six weeks. At length the clerk advised him to step in, and take Sir Charles by storm. Urged to desperation, he did so. He rushed into the apartment; and there was Sir Charles, enjoying otium sine dignitate, seated at the fire, with a foot resting on the side of the grate, and in a state of grievous dilapidation and undress, exhibiting altogether a most ridiculous spectacle. "What is the matter?" said Sir Charles. "I have called," said the young clerk, "daily for six weeks." "I know you have," said the lawyer, and with an expression so indifferent and so comical, that our young friend, overcome by the whole scene, fairly burst out into a shout of uncontrollable laughter. Sir C. Wetherell did the same. The effect was mutual, electrical, and irresistible. Our young friend, when he could command breath, apologized for his rudeness, saying, that really he could not help it. "Neither could I," said Sir Charles; "but in the meantime, I am really busy, and if you will call to-morrow, I will examine the papers." Our friend had learnt wisdom from experience. He assured Sir Charles that unless the papers were examined now, they would never be. "I believe you are right," said the Knight. He then seized the document; and in three quarters of an hour he wrote down an opinion, which afterwards stood the test of a protracted suit in Chancery.-Cambridge Advertiser.

REV. SYDNEY SMITH.

His pertinent question to a French savant at H- House deserves mention, as a favourable specimen of conversational adroitness. The gentleman in question, not in the best possible taste, had been indulging, both before and during dinner, in a variety of freethinking speculations, and ended by avowing himself a materialist. "Very good soup this," said Mr. Smith. "Oui, Monsieur, c'est excellente." "Pray, Sir, do you believe in a cook?"-Ingoldsby Legends.

merchants and pilgrims are accustomed to unite for mutual protection in traversing these wild and inhospitable parts, as well as for offering a more effectual resistance to the attacks of robbers. Through this kind of intercourse, which principally obtains in Turkey, Persia, and Arabia, most of the inland commerce of the East is carried on; and certainly, of all the various modes in which the commodities of one country are conveyed to another, it is the cheapest and the most expeditious, as the possession of the camel affords facilities for journeying over barren and sandy regions, which would be inaccessible to wheel-carriages, and the difficulties and privation of which no beast of burden but this invaluable creature could endure. The company composing a caravan are often very numerous, consisting, it may be, of several hundred persons, and as many thousand camels; and it may be supposed that the assembling of so many individuals, together with the orderly distribution of their respective bales of merchandise and travelling equipage, is an affair requiring both time and the most careful attention. Accordingly, the packing and unpacking of the camels, as well as the general service of the caravan, employ a great many hands, some of whom, by dint of economy and active habits, often raise themselves from the condition of servants to the more respectable stations of merchants, who travel on their own account, or in the capacity of carriers. Any person can, under certain regulations, form a caravan at any time, but generally there are stated periods, which are well known as the regular starting-times for the mercantile journeys; and the merchants belonging to the company, or those travellers who are desirous of accompanying it for the benefit of a safeconduct, repair to the place of rendezvous, where the caravan is to be formed, exhibiting as their goods and camels successively arrive, a motley group, a busy and tumultuous scene of preparation, which can be more easily conceived than described. As, in the hot season, the travelling is performed under night, the previous part of the day on which the caravan leaves is consumed in the preparatory labours of packing; an indispensable arrangement which has been observed with unbroken uniformity since the days of Ezekiel; (chap. xii. 3;) and then, at about eight o'clock, the usual starting-time, the whole party put themselves in motion, and continue their journey without interruption till midnight or later. (Luke xi. 5, 6.) At other seasons they travel all day, only halting for rest and refreshments during the heat of noon. The distances are measured by a day's journey; and from seven to eight hours seem to have been a usual day's journey for caravans; (Hornemann, p. 150;) so that

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estimating the slow and unwieldy gait of a camel at two miles and a half an hour, the average rate for travelling will be from seventeen to twenty miles per day. The earliest caravan of merchants we read of is the itinerant company to whom Joseph was sold by his brethren. (Gen. xxxvii.) "Here," says Dr. Vincent, "upon opening the oldest history in the world, we find the Ishmaelites from Gilead conducting a caravan loaded with spices of India, the balsam and myrrh of Hadramant, and in the regular course of their traffic proceeding to Egypt for a market. The date of this transaction is more than seventeen centuries before the Christian era; and, notwithstanding its antiquity, it has all the genuine features of a caravan crossing the desert at the present hour." (Commerce and Navigation of the Ancients, vol. ii., p. 262.) This caravan was a mixed one, consisting of three classes, Ishmaelites, (ver. 25,) Midianites, (ver. 28,) and Medanites, as the Hebrews call the last, (ver. 36,) who, belonging to the mountainous region of Gilead, would seem, like the nomade tribes of Africa in the present day, to have engaged themselves as commercial travellers, and were then, in passing over the plain of Dothan, on the high caravan-road for the market of Egypt. This circumstance, though minute and incidentally introduced, is a beautiful confirmation of the truth of Scripture history; for it is well known that the ancient Egyptians were not addicted to commerce, and that all their traffic was thrown into the hands of foreigners, who, by overland carriage, regularly imported the productions of other countries (slaves, from Ethiopia; incense, from Arabia; and spices, from India) into Egypt, which was then, as it has been in all ages, the emporium of the southern and western nations.-Kitto.

"Terrible as an army with banners." This has been supposed to carry an allusion to the caravans in the East, and the manner in which they are conducted in their travels by night. The caravans are divided into companies, called cottors, according to Thevenot; and each company is distinguished by the form of the brazier in which they carry their lights. After night, these braziers are placed at the end of long poles, and carried by a person who walks at the head of the company. Some have ten or twelve lights, and are of different forms: some are triangular, or like an N, some like an M, by which each pilgrim readily knows his own company both by night and day. A whole caravan, composed of many thousands of hadgees or pilgrims, divided into various cottors, or companies, each having its own distinguishing brazier or light, must necessarily produce a very splendid, if not a terrible, appearance.— Dr. A. Clarke.

A REFORMED INFIDEL'S ACCOUNT
OF HIS CONVERSION TO GOD,
AFTER TWENTY YEARS' CONFIRMED
INFIDELITY.

"Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire."
(Concluded from p. 57.)

THIS was the last effort almost that the great enemy of God and man was allowed to make, to retain me in his service. For I from this time formed the resolution never more to rest night or day until I had made my peace with my offended God. One night about this time, as I lay in bed, I had a vision. It was a beautifully-illuminated cross, and it appeared to come from the window towards the bed.

On the 5th of November I attended a prayer-meeting, but could get no satisfaction to my own mind that I had found what I was so anxiously seeking; but the advice of the Minister upon that occasion made such an impression upon my mind, that time itself will never be able to erase. "Brother," said he, "Jesus Christ died for you: bless the Lord for the gift of Jesus! Keep repeating this," said he. I took his advice, being determined to let my God have no rest until he pardoned all my sins, through the merits of Jesus Christ his dear Son, my Saviour. Nearly the whole of that night I spent in seeking for an interest in that blood that was shed on Calvary, and the day following until two o'clock, when the blessed God answered my petition, by removing the load of guilt from my soul, and I exclaimed, in an ecstasy of joy, "Glory be to God!" Instantaneously a voice seemed to say in my ears, "Go and sin no more." Words cannot express my joy. I felt that I could have no rest until I told the happy tidings to one of my shopmates: indeed I felt that I should have been glad to have communicated the joyful news to all the world, had it been in my power.

O, what a glorious change! The whole aspect of nature seemed to have put on a more heavenly look; even the countenances of my fellow-workmen appeared quite different; and such a loathing of sin I felt as I cannot describe. I then became uneasy about my infidel books, and made a resolution to get rid of them as soon as possible: but I thought it would be unwise to destroy them; for I reasoned thus upon the subject:--If any person is desirous to have such books, they are to be met with at almost any bookshop in the country; therefore I cannot prevent them from being read by any one who is so disposed. Again, I considered, that if I destroyed them, I should not be instrumental in making others what reading such books

had made me. But their doom was finally fixed by one of my shopmates saying, "I should think that thou wilt destroy all the Tom Paine books now." I immediately said, "I will, lad:" so they were consigned to the flames, along with two portraits, one of Paine, and the other of Carlisle, which were pulled out of the frames they had occupied for years.

Now, my friends, you may perceive, from this brief narration, the interposition of Almighty God in my behalf, from the time of reading the work on mesmerism to the period of my conversion, as I stuck very tenaciously all the way to the service of the great enemy of mankind. But the omnipotent Lord of the universe can change the heart of the hardest infidel. This I have fairly proved; as I have both thought and said, many a time, that it was impossible for any person that had imbibed the principles that I had, ever to believe in the Christian religion again. I was of opinion that it was possible enough to make him an hypocrite, to say that he believed when he did not as for such a person ever to become sincerely a Christian, this I could not for one moment believe. But, glory be to God! I have now far better reasons for believing in Christianity than ever I had in infidelity: for, blessed be God! there is not a day passes but I have the witness of the Spirit, either more or less, that I am one of his children. This is a something that I was a complete stranger to when I was serving the devil, and what all his followers must for ever be ignorant of, whilst they continue to serve him.

O, my dear friends, for the love of God, do not let the arch-fiend persuade you that it is all a delusion, as I know he will endeavour to do, or that the writer of this is insane, or that he has turned Methodist to please his masters. Any one of these suggestions is as false as he is false, and is intended for the purpose of keeping you blindfolded until he gets you into hell. I should have said as much myself a very few months ago, being then one of his principal agents.

In conclusion, I would advise you to go to hear the word of God preached as often as you have the opportunity. I do not wish you to go to one place of worship in preference to another. But, O, do not rest until you know that you have an interest in heaven through the blood of a crucified Saviour. W. ROEBUCK. Taylor-Hill, near Huddersfield, December, 1844.

THE subject of the foregoing narrative was a man of strong sense: his information was

much more extensive than the generality of his rank. He was a good workman, and well respected by his masters, Messrs. G. Mallinson and Sons; and such was his influence with his fellow-workmen, that he was usually selected by them as an umpire to settle any differences among them. His conversion to God was real and saving, and his subsequent conduct creditable to his profession of Christianity; and his death, though sudden and unexpected, was peaceful and triumphant. The following remarks are supplied by his Class-Leader, who knew him well, and is fully competent to appreciate his character:

"The conversion of W. Roebuck from infidelity to Christianity was one of the most striking evidences of the truth of the Gospel, and the power of divine grace upon the heart, that I ever witnessed. His conversion was clear and scriptural; and until the day of his death he gave the most decided and satisfactory evidence that the change which he experienced was a genuine work of grace. His love to the word of

God, his strict observance of the Sabbath, and his ardent love to the worship of God, were remarkable and exemplary. His piety was not of an ordinary character. His diligence in the means of grace was great, generally attending three or four times on the Lord's day, and several nights in the week.

"The Sabbath-morning prayer-meeting at seven o'clock he regularly attended. It was at this meeting that I had the privilege of hearing him, for the last time, engage in public prayer; and during his prayer that morning he had great nearness of access to

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"I believe that the subject of these remarks enjoyed the blessing of entire holiness. His consolations were neither few nor small. He enjoyed much of the presence of God, but was often severely tempted: his former pursuits, and the books he had read against Christianity, furnished the adversary with means to buffet him; but he had a shield wherewith he was able to quench the fiery darts of the adversary.

"He was a strict observer of the worship of God in his family; and being a man who rapidly acquired a knowledge of Christianity, he spoke his experience, and prayed, more like one of twenty years' standing in religion than one who had only known the truth as it is in Jesus about two years. The path of the just is as the shining light, which shineth more and more unto the perfect day.' His last sickness was short, which he bore with great patience and resignation; and he closed his earthly career on the 30th of June, 1846, in the forty-seventh year of his age." THOMAS DICKIN. Huddersfield, Nov. 24th, 1846.