There is no bold mountain scenery, Menai Bridge, or Britannia Tube, to gaze at and rivet the attention. We soon lost sight of land, except an occasional glimpse of the Cumberland mountains, until the Isle of Man appeared at a distance, like a huge whale sleeping on the waters.

Douglas is a town containing some 9,000 or 10,000 inhabitants. It stretches from the pier to a considerable distance on the right, and rises to the summit of the high ground overlooking the bay. The bay itself is large, and, when approached from the sea, presents a charming sight. The Tower of Refuge is in the centre; Fort Anne, and the high headlands on the left; and the whitewashed and stuccoed buildings-some of them princely-which appear in profusion in the back ground, give Douglas a delightful appearance, especially when the beams of the evening sun fall thereon, as was the case when we steamed up to the pier. The old part of the town is crowded with buildings, uncouth, and jumbled together in a strange and fantastic manner. There are the most intricate windings, and the streets are little better than alleys. The short time which I remained here, was not sufficient to allow me to wend my way with tolerable accuracy through this part of the town. The modern parts of the town, bear the marks of the genius and improvements of the age. The vicinity of Douglas is highly picturesque, and is diversified by mountain and vale, wood and stream, in great variety. But as I am only attempting to describe the impressions made by a passing visit, I shall hasten on to other matters.

The extreme length of the island is about thirty miles, and its breadth about ten. Its area is about 220 square miles. If the surface be divided into twelve equal parts, five of them will consist of heath and moor, and the remaining seven of arable and meadow land. The appearance of the country at the onset is not very prepossessing. The visiter at first is led to pronounce it poor; and it is not until he has seen a considerable portion of its best parts, that he is led to alter his opinion. First impressions are the strongest and most difficult to get rid of, when erroneous. The great absence of trees, with their rich foliage, and of hawthorn hedges, such as we frequently see in most

parts of England, gives the country the appearance of nakedness and barrenness.

The island is very much unlike some of the islands in the South Sea, for many of them are of comparatively recent formation; but the Isle of Man is of the oldest order; its rocks being primitive, or of the lowest formation, much below the coal, or carboniferous strata. The soil is thin, the rocks are near the surface, manure is scarce; but, with all these disadvantages, some of the crops are excellent.

The day after my arrival, wishing to see a little of the country, at ten o'clock in the morning I took coach for Peel Town, a fishing town eleven miles from Douglas, on the opposite coast. The ride was delightful, save that the roads were very dusty, and with the tramping of the horses, rolling of the wheels, and the breeze that met us, tended to annoy us a little; but the man who cannot put up with such annoyances is not fit for a traveller. The road is good, but the hilly nature of the country makes it rather laborious for the horses and pedestrians. The road passes over the sides of the mountains, and through the vales and openings between the mountains, which are at a considerable distance in some places on the right and left. We passed cottages, villas, and villages, churches and chapels, cornfields and orchards; in fact, through a district which is evidently the abode of happiness, peace, and plenty. We passed one place in particular deserving a moment's notice, viz., the "Tynwald Mount," which is an artificial mound of earth about two and a half miles from the town of Peel. The hill is surrounded by three rows of seats cut out of the side for the accommodation of official persons. The perpendicular height of the hill is twelve feet, and the circumference of the base two hundred and forty; it has four truncated cones, piled, and progressively diminishing in size towards the top, which is tabular, and about twenty-one feet in circumference. this mound the laws to be enforced in the Isle of Man are proclaimed. This has been the custom for a great length of time, and, to the present day, no law is of force in the Isle until it has been proclaimed in the accustomed manner from the Tynwald Hill.

On

Peel Town is pleasantly situated. It is noted for the ruins of its ancient castle and cathedral, and for its extensive fishing trade. For a mile or more beyond the town the fields are covered with nets when the vessels are laid up for the Sabbath. It being Saturday when I was there, they were spreading the nets on every hand. There were only a few strangers at Peel. The population is about two thousand, consisting almost entirely of natives.

Three or four hours may be pleasantly spent at Peel, in viewing the ruins of the castle and cathedral, walking on the sea beach, climbing the mountains, examining the fishing vessels; all of which I did. I returned in the evening, and spent the Sabbath in Douglas, going to worship morning and evening, and visiting the "Ragged school" in the afternoon, and talking to what are termed "urchins," but who really possess souls like our own, and powers and capabilities which, if improved, may make them shining characters. As there is no poor-law in the island, a collection is made in each place of worship in the island every Sabbath for the poor; thus the poor depend on the voluntary support of the church and chapel-going portion of the population. Each place of worship has the dispensing of its own monies. Of rates and taxes there are none in the island, excepting only four shillings and sixpence, which is chargeable on every house, as a highway rate, there being no turnpikes. On many articles of consumption there is little duty, on some none. The cheapness of spirits is a great temptation to visiters who are not, like myself, total abstainers. A shocking occurrence transpired just before I arrived. A father and son from the neighbourhood of Stockport drunk to that excess that both died. They were carried by the house where I was staying, and both were buried in one grave. Another young man of property drank to excess, and died about the same time. A great many of the natives are teetotallers.

On the Monday, wishing to see a little more of the Isle of Man life, and being desirous of breathing the mountain air, I prepared for a journey of eight or ten miles, and proceeded to the top of Sneafall, the highest mountain in the island, it being about 2,000 feet above the level of the sea. This I accomplished, though the wind was strong and the rain at

times poured down copiously. At the top the wind blew a hurricane, and at times lifted me off my feet. A heap of stones protected me so far that I had time to view the scene, which was grand and imposing. The whole island was visible. To the north-cast, the country was flat and apparently very fruitful; around me all was barrenness, save in the valleys, where I saw fields and meadows, and cornfields. I met with a warm reception, at the foot of "Bein y phot," amongst the natives of these high hills. The cottage was old, it had the bare earth for a floor, turf for firing, the fire itself on the floor; no grate, no proper chimney; the children barefooted; the bedroom like a hay-loft at one end, with a moveable ladder to ascend; yet even here I felt at home. The children at first were timid, but eventually I gained their confidence, and they read to me, for they could read the Bible. I would have sent them the Scriptures from Douglas, but I found they were in possession of the invaluable treasure.

I returned to Douglas in the evening, as it was necessary for me to leave on the following morning; thus ended my first visit to the Isle of Man.

Comparatively small as the island is, it will be perceived that I did not see the whole. I saw, however, enough to form an opinion of it, which opinion may be regarded as favourable. Though without a poor-law, I saw comparatively little poverty, and certainly no abject poverty. There was an air of peace and comparative comfort. The people appeared to be moral, well-behaved, courteous to strangers, and intelligent. They are in general healthy, suffer little from The asthma or consumption, and attain to a good old age. sea breeze pervades the whole island, which is favourable to longevity. In Douglas it is rare to see ice of any thickness in winter. To invalids it is a favourite resort, and few others who have visited it once, but wish and endeavour to see it again. I met with strangers, even from Leicester and Birmingham; nor was it their first visit. To persons of limited incomes it offers peculiar advantages, articles of daily consumption being so cheap, and the taxgatherer unknown. Its distance from Liverpool is 75 miles. A packet plies daily; so that it may be regarded as tolerably con

venient to our own shores, even more so than many parts of our own island. In the summer season, I should judge there will be not fewer than three or four thousand visiters at once in Douglas alone. So that the visiter is almost certain to meet with some old friend. Though a complete stranger myself, and travelling alone, I no sooner set my foot on Mona's Isle than I was tapped on the shoulder by an old friend, who now resides in the island, and at whose house I stayed. I left the island with regret, as thousands have done; and, as I cast a last lingering look, I only gathered consolation from the hope that I might see it again, or if not, that I might have the pleasure of landing on the shores of heaven, that far happier land, where all tears are wiped from all eyes.

THE BIBLE IN MY TRUNK.

Dear Sir,-A few evenings ago I was present at a teatable where the conversation turned upon praying "before folk," some of the party contending that, where two travellers chance to lodge in the same room for a night, it would look very Pharisaical if one were to kneel down and "say his prayers" in the presence of the other. The other party defended the propriety of it, and asserted it to be a duty. As an illustration, an incident was related, where two members of our Church-at home, good men enough-both got into bed prayerless, for fear of praying before the other's eyes. This conversation, which was very interesting, and in the course of which many striking illustrations were brought up to prove the healthy example of never neglecting prayer, led a clergyman present to relate the following anecdote, which I think worthy of preservation, and perhaps may do some good.

'When I was a young man,' said the clergyman, 'I was clerk in Boston. Two of my room-mates at my boardinghouse were also clerks, about my own age, which was eighteen. The first Sunday morning, during the three or four long hours that elapsed from getting up to bell-ringing