and second) were procured, and specimens of the peculiar coinage of the country-small ingots of silver, nearly globular, and stamped in two places. One of the objects of interest on the shore opposite to the Consulate was a large pagoda, which from a distance presented a resplendent appearance, being veneered, as it were, outside, with broken pieces of glistening china-ware. It was also embellished with various mythical figures, the cock predominating, but of what emblematical it is difficult to conjecture. Along the outer wall of a temple or house, close to the pagoda, were to be seen rude frescoes or paintings, representing every species of torture supposed to be inflicted on the damned in the infernal regions, some being curry-combed, others broken with clubs, others again having their tongues drawn out, or being transfixed with spears, &c. About a mile and a half from the Consulate there was another large temple, which contained a reclining figure of Buddha, the largest in the world, being 160 feet long, gilt all over, and the soles of the feet covered with jewels. The figure rested on a platform of brickwork, raised five or six feet from the floor, and numerous images of cocks with the breasts of women, were standing all round the platform. Near the temple was a pond full of alligators. Before leaving, we were granted an interview with the first king. Proceeding up the river in barges, we landed at some distance from the palace, to which we were carried astraddle on rude open palanquins by two men each. We were first ushered into a sort of out-building, where we had to wait a couple of hours whilst the king was enjoying his siesta. This delay was intended to give us a high idea of his dignity. To while away the time, some of us went on an exploring expedition, and were fortunate enough to stumble upon the famous white elephant, then being fed by its keeper in a neighbouring building. The beast was ennobled, and treated with the respect due to its exalted position. It was not quite so white as its predecessor, but was of a brick-dust colour. It was fastened by two feet to two upright posts, was sleek, and in good condition. When intimation was given to us that the King was ready to receive us in the throne-room, we marched off through a guard of soldiers, dressed in uniform with yellow facings, but without shoes. The King was standing on his throne, surrounded by twenty or more of his sons, from ten to fourteen years of age, and by the nobles of the country, crouching on their hands and knees, and stationed in three or four half circles round the King, on each side of the central entrance, the highest in rank being nearest to his Majesty. We were directed to sit down on the floor opposite to the throne, in which position we remained whilst the interview lasted. Our business was transacted partly through an interpreter, although the King spoke a little English himself, and was amicably concluded in half-an hour. The king then left his throne with his children, and requested us to follow him to an inner chamber, where he himself poured out a glass of wine, or liqueur of the country, for each of us, and handed it to us, making an exception in the case of Dr Campbell, the surgeon of the Consulate, who had coffee, being known by the King to be a teetotaller. He also gave each of us his photograph and autograph, the former no doubt taken by some European artist. The children, from their cleanly appearance, neat dress, curious little topknots, and happy faces, were a most interesting group. The King naturally took great interest in them, and was evidently very fond of them. Retiring into an inner chamber, he brought out and introduced to us his deceased wife's sister, to whom he was about to be married. By this time the agitators for a breach of this most necessary restriction may quote him as an example in their favour. The fair lady was young, buxom, and goodly-looking, of a retiring disposition, and apparently overawed by the presence of strangers, having to be gently dragged in by the King. Her complexion was a dark olive, her features regular and well formed, and she possessed the essential requisite for an Eastern beauty to a fair degree, being tolerably stout and well-developed. There was no attempt made to conceal her charms, for her dress was even lower than required by the present fashion of civilised society, and certainly considerably shorter than anything ever advocated by a Yankee bloomer. In plain language, her dress simply consisted of a scarf fastened round the waist, and short drawers. The King (a man of slender build) wore a tartan-check Glengarry cap, a tight-fitting tailcoat of blue silk, with knee-breeches of the same material, silk stockings, shoes with silver buckles, and a sword. A sumptuous dinner was soon afterwards served up for us in an adjoining hall. The King was not present, but his brother superintended the feast, seated at a separate table, and smoking a cigar. The dinner was quite in the English style, and the champagne was excellent, although the other wines were of a very inferior quality, the claret no doubt being "Chancellor's" 12s. The royal band played several national and other airs. After regaling ourselves for an hour and a half, we were carried to our barges in the same way as we had come, and returned to the Consulate. Finding the worthy Consul somewhat indisposed after dinner-peace be to his memory!--and unable to entertain us, the Captain and Doctor agreed to adjourn to a billiard-room behind the Consulate, which could only be approached by a narrow raised pathway through a swamp. Here and there the path turned almost at a right angle, so that, if the bend was missed in the dark, the unlucky wayfarer would be certain to step into the swamp. As they were proceeding along this path, so difficult of navigation, the Captain called out to his companion, who suffered greatly from corns, “Now, Doctor, have a care for your groggy feet, or you will be overboard to a certainty." "No fear," said the Doctor, who contrived to stagger across in safety. On arrival at the billiard-room, finding several officers and some of the Consulate officials at play, the Doctor, feeling tired after all the fatigues of the day, gave the Captain the slip, and started off for the Consulate post-haste, with the intention of turning in and getting a good night's sleep, having had none the night before in consequence of the skylarking freaks of some of the more youthful visitors. But, alas! in his haste he forgot the Captain's warning, and instead of taking a turn, stepped right off the path, and found himself floundering in the swamp. His cap was thrown off by the shock, and he had to spend some ten minutes or more in groping for it in the dark. Trousers, shirt, and cap had all to be thoroughly washed when he regained his room, as he had not brought a change with him. We need not recount how the Captain chaffed him when he heard of the adventure. A few days afterwards we took our leave of Bankok, highly delighted with our visit. LETTER-THE BISHOP OF GLASGOW TO THE BISHOP OF HURON. AYR, May 3, 1865. “MY LORD,—I have learned with painful concern, that on Easterday your Lordship was present, and took part in the services, in a place of worship in Glasgow, the minister and congregation of which withhold themselves from communion with the Episcopal Church, and from submission to my authority as Bishop and Ordinary of this diocese. "It can scarcely be necessary for me to remind you, that the Episcopal Church in Scotland is in full communion with the United Church of England and Ireland, and with all the colonial branches of the same; and that this inter-communion is not only founded on the plainest principles of ecclesiastical polity, but is likewise recognised by the law of the land. "By the course which you have thought proper to adopt, you have not only, in effect, ignored the existence of this inter-communion, and discountenanced the position of this Church, but you have given sanction and encouragement to certain clergymen (happily few in number) who, having been admitted into holy orders in England or Ireland, have come into Scotland and, under the designation of "English Episco palians," deny or repudiate the authority of the local diocesans, although these diocesans are, as I have said, in communion with that Church in which the clergymen referred to received their ordination, and with that branch of it in which your lordship received your consecration to the Episcopal office. "The position assumed by these clergyman, in ministering to congregations in a state of separation from the Church, and independent of any Episcopal authority or jurisdiction whatever, is inconsistent with the first principles of Episcopacy; while intrusion on the part of any Bishop into the diocese of another, in communion with himself, is a violation of the rules of apostolic order, and of the constitution of the Church from the beginning. "After much consideration, I feel it to be my duty, in order, if it may be, to prevent its repetition, to remonstrate with you on so manifest and gross an irregularity-(to use no stronger terms)—as that of a Bishop coming into this country, from a remote colony, and holding communion and fellowship in things sacred with clergymen, and congregations in a state of separation from the local Episcopate, and in opposition to the duly constituted authorities of the Church. I feel myself constrained, both for the maintenance of my own ecclesiastical position, and in vindication of the step taken by my predecessor in similar circumstances in his day, to protest, as he did, against such an act, and, accordingly, I do hereby protest in the most solemn manner against your lordship's conduct in this matter, as an intrusion into the sphere of my jurisdiction, as a Bishop of the Church of Christ, duly and canonically collated to my diocese, by the competent ecclesiastical authority, viz.—that of the College of Bishops in Scotland. "In conclusion, I would earnestly entreat your Lordship, calmly and dispassionately, to consider what your position and feelings would be, if a similar element of division and confusion were to be introduced into your own diocese, and if it were in a like manner, to be sanctioned and encouraged by the presence and influence of a Bishop from this side of the Atlantic, or from the United States of America. I apprehend that the course which you have taken virtually cuts away from under your feet the principal, if not the only, ground on which you could consistently resist such an aggression on your authority, and so grievous an injury to that portion of the Christian vineyard, which it is your privilege to govern, and which has been committed to your supervision, not in virtue of letters patent from the Crown, but, as in my own case, by the legitimate action of the Church. "Having thus plainly, but, I trust, with all due respect and courtesy, made known to you the aspect in which I view your recent intrusion into my diocese-a matter which I could not have passed over in silence, without an apparent surrender of my position as a diocesan Bishop-I beg to subscribe myself, "Your faithful servant and brother in Christ, ecclesiastical "WM. S. WILSON, Bishop of Glasgow and Galloway. "To the Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of Huron." PRESBYTERY AND RITUAL. THE following speeches made at the late meeting of the General Assembly, will be read with interest - "Principal Tulloch, St. Andrews, contended for free congregational action as congenial to the spirit of their Presbyterian institutions. He complained of the language which had been used with reference to the Church of England, which with all its faults he looked upon as the most glorious Church in the world. "I look upon that Church," he said, as set up for the defence of the Faith; and when we think upon that Faith as at this moment undergoing attacks in comparison with which all our discussions are not worthy to be mentioned, and when we think that while from that Church there may have come some of that spirit of excessive freedom which has provoked the free handling which it has received, we should also remember that there has also come from that Church, at the same time, the most successful, the most able, and the most distinguished answers to these attacks upon the Christian Faith." (Applause.) Dr. Norman Macleod, Glasgow, supported Dr. Stevenson's motion as the least operative. He complained of the references by Dr. M'Rae and others to the "Fathers of the Church." Some of these men, he said, did great good in their day and generation; some of them monstrous little; but all that seemed to him just as absurd as if in the year 2000-and he hoped his friend Dr. Cumming would not suppose he was heretical if he assumed that the world might last till then-(laughter) --just as foolish as that in the year 2000, when any changes were proposed all progress should he stopped by some earnest men quoting something that had been said by Father M'Rae. (Loud laughter.) "I myself would not dare to stand up at this moment and address the House out of sheer nervous fear, for it would act as a sort of incubus on me if I thought I were to be held up as a ghost of authority for all generations, and to be called a Father of the Church." (Renewed laughter.) With regard to organs, he remarked, "I suppose there is no person in this Assembly who thinks it is unscriptural or that it is a sin to worship |