reticence and self-possession, considering the foul wrongs which, in the name of British justice, had been committed against him. A suitable reply was returned. There was scarcely a dry eye in the assembly.

Tidings of an encouraging nature have been received from Brittany, in some parts of which the truth of Christ is silently winning its way over Romish error. The teaching, especially à domicile, continues, despite all priestly manoeuvres and threats.

Among the wilds which skirt the western boundaries of Bengal there is an aboriginal race called Santhals. Hitherto little missionary work had been attempted among them, as they spoke a different and unwritten tongue; but it has now been fairly commenced. Four stations have been established, at each of which a Bengali Christian schoolmaster presides, assisted by a Santhal, a native of the place where the mission is, who assists in the instruction, and who accompanies the missionary when preaching from place to place. "On entering a village," says the latter, "we announce our intention of having come to make known the Word of God, and then proceed to the head man's house, in front of which there is a little raised verandah; here we sit down, and then proceed to address our audience, which by this time has begun rapidly to collect from all parts of the village. We begin by calling their attention to a fact generally acknowledged by the Santhal, that all mankind have sprung from the first old man and first old woman.' Then we explain how God created them, the place of their residence, their fall, and, lastly, the means of salvation by Christ; and this latter is the theme which interests, whilst it surprises and astonishes them. At the same time it bows their heart as one man, to hear that the Son of the HighestHe who was at His right hand from

ancient days-descended in the form of man to earth, and suffered for the sins of men; in no way do they seem to think it an incongruous thing that such should take place. Believe?"

they say, and why should we not believe it, sahib ?'

The Friend of India informs us that one Baboo Kheseeb Cheender, sen., the apostle of the Brahmas," has recently delivered a lecture to his countrymen on "Jesus Christ," in which, while "avowedly differing from the orthodox opinions of popular Christianity," he employed language which showed a strong Christian leaning. He spoke for instance thus: "Is there a single soul in this large assembly who would scruple to ascribe extraordinary greatness and supernatural moral heroism to Jesus Christ and Him crucified? Was not He who by His wisdom illumined, and by His power saved a dark and wicked world-was not He who has left us such a priceless legacy of Divine truth, and whose blood has wrought such wonders for eighteen hundred years,—was not He above ordinary humanity? Blessed Jesus, immortal child of God! For the world He lived and died. May the world appreciate Him and follow His precepts! I rejoice," he added, "yea, I am proud that I am an Asiatic. And was not Jesus Christ an Asiatic? Yes, and His disciples were Asiatics, and all the agencies primarily employed for the propagation of the Gospel were Asiatic. In fact, Christianity was founded and developed by Asiatics and in Asia. When I reflect on this, my love for Jesus becomes & hundred-fold intensified; I feel Him nearer my heart, and deeper in my national sympathies. Why should I then feel ashamed to acknowledge that nationality which He acknowledged?" These sentiments were loudly applauded. "The speaker," says the Friend of India, "we believe to be sincere."

BY THE

"September marched eeke on foote; Yet was he heavy-laden with the spoyle Of harvest's riches, which he made his boote, And him enricht with bounty of the soyle: In his one hand, as fit for harvest's toyle, He held a knife-hook; and in th' other hand A paire of waights, with which he did assoyle

Both more and lesse where it in doubt did stand,

And equall gave to each as Justice duly scanned." SPENSER.

As its name imports, this month, now the ninth of the year, was formerly the seventh, Septem meaning seven, and imber, a shower of rain, from the rainy season, which frequently commences at this period. Our Saxon ancestors called this month "Gerst-monath, for that barley which that month commonly yielded was antiently called gerst, the name of barley being given unto it, by reason of the drinke therewith made, called beere, and from beerlegh it come to be berlegh, and from berleg to barley. This excellent and healthsome liquor beere, antiently also called ael, as of the Danes it yet is (beere and ale being in effect all one) was first of the Germans invented, and brought in use."

The first of September, the calendar dedicates to St. Giles, though his day is a complete deadletter, as far as the English Church is concerned. He was an abbot, as the Prayer-book tells us, a native of Athens, and he came into France early in the eighth century. For some time he lived the secluded life of a hermit; then he was made Abbot of an abbey at Nismes, which the king built for his sake. St. Giles is the patron saint of beggars, and also of cripples, and therefore is the Church of St. Giles' Cripplegate, London, dedicated to his memory.

That prince of legend-mongers, Ribadeneira, tells us how the saint himself was crippled. He was praying in a cave, in a solitary wilderness, and the French king and his retinue came hunting hard by in the thicket. One of the huntsmen wounded the hermit, who continued his prayers as if nothing had happened, and the king per

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ceiving that he was a holy man, fell at his feet, implored his pardon, and gave orders that the wound should be cured. But this Giles would not suffer, as he wished to increase his merits by suffering pain, so he voluntarily remained a cripple, and received revenue from the king, whom he counselled to build a monastery, the which he did, and Giles became its abbot, and, to quote the words of the legend, "led the life of an angel incarnate," and converted the king. He worked many miracles; and at last, credible or incredible, witnesses declared that "they herde the company of angelles berynge the soul of him into hevn!" So much for "Giles Abbot," as he flourishes in the Anglican Calendar on the first day of September.

On the third of September, 1666, very early in the morning, commenced the great Fire of London, which broke out in a baker's shop in Puddinglane, by Fish-street Hill, and spread and spread till eighty-nine churches, the city gates, Guildhall, many public buildings, and 430 streets were utterly destroyed; the ruins of the city, from the Tower to the Temple Church, and from the north-east along the city wall to Holborn, covering 436 acres! Vincent, the ejected Nonconformist minister of St. Mary Magdalene, in Milk-street, writes:-"It was in the depth and dead of the night, when most doors and fences were locked up in the city, that the fire doth break forth, and appear abroad, and like a mighty giant refreshed with wine, doth awake, and arm itself, quickly gathers strength, when it had made havoc of some houses, rusheth down the hill towards the bridge, crosseth Thames-street, invadeth Magnus Church at the bridge-foot, and though that church were so great, yet it was not a sufficient barricade against the conqueror." For several days the fire raged on, leaping over every obstacle, and defying every means for its extinction. There had been a drought for many weeks, the weather

had been inordinately hot, a dry east wind was blowing, and nearly all the houses of that period were chiefly built of timber. Men began to fear the whole city, with its suburbs, would be burned. Great too was the terror among the populace, because it was noised abroad that the Roman Catholics had caused the conflagration, and it was rumoured that fire-balls had been thrown into houses by "outlandish men," and foreigners were everywhere suspected, nor dared to show themselves, except upon compulsion. The streets were blocked up with vehicles of every description, carrying goods forth into the country, and every one, as an eyewitness said, was glad to be porter to himself."

By Sunday night the fire had crept up Cannon-street, and burned it to the ground, and on Monday morning Gracechurch-street, with Lombard-street, and part of Fenchurch-street were all in flames, that presently broke in on Cornhill, roaring on both sides of the way, till they reached the Royal Exchange, where on Monday night they met with another fire coming down Threadneedle-street, and presently with another running up from Walbrook, and a little further on with a fourth that was consuming Bucklersbury, and "all these four, writes Vincent, "break into one great flame at the corner of Cheapside, with such a dazzling light, and burning heat, and roaring noise, by the fall of so many houses together, that was very amazing!"

On Tuesday, the fire still marching on, it got into Blackfriars, and continuing its course by the river, made up towards St. Paul's Church on that side, while the Cheapside flames reached it on the other. And this great and magnificent church, though all of stone outside, and "naked of houses about it," yielded quickly to the conqueror. The lead melted, and ran down Ludgate-hill in streams: the vaulted roof fell in, and broke into the crypt of the Church of St. Faith's below, which was filled with books carried thither for safety by the stationers, whose

stores were all consumed, and remained burning for a week. And, writes the celebrated John Evelyn, author of the "Sylva," "Thus lay in ashes that most venerable church, one of the most antient pieces of early piety in the Christian world, besides neere 100 more And

now Paternoster Row, Newgate Market, Old Bailey, and Ludgate Hill were quickly seen in flames, and with great speed the fire rushed across to Fleet-street, while from Cheapside it marched along Woodstreet, Gutter-lane, and other smaller thoroughfares into Lothbury, and from Newgate Market into St. Martin's Lane, towards Aldersgate.

"The sight of Guildhall," writes Vincent, "was a fearful spectacle, which stood the whole body of it together in view for several hours after the fire had taken it, without flames (I suppose because the timber was such solid oak), in a bright shining coal, as if it had been a palace of gold, or a great building of burnished brass."

On Wednesday, by the mercy of God, the conflagration was stayed in Lothbury, Broad-street, and Coleman-street, also at the Temple, so that it came no farther westwards. The good Evelyn was concerned for St. Bartholemew's Hospital, and the wounded and sick men therein, but there, also, Providence interposed, and the flames came no farther than Pye-corner. Finally came an alarm that the French and Dutch had actually landed, and were even then entering the city. It was also whispered that they had been the authors of the calamity that was but just abating. I need scarcely say that the monument on Fishstreet Hill, with its lofty column, and gilded flame a-top, was erected in commemoration of this great and terrible event. On each of the four sides was a suitable inscription, one of them, which imputes the evil to the Papists, having been erased under James II., but restored in the reign of William III. It has long been generally believed that the Papists were guiltless of the enormous crime thus laid to their charge, but the inscription re-,

mained for many years, though Pope wrote:

"Where London's column pointing to the skies,

Like a tall bully, lifts its head and lies!"

The fire, however, was, like many other great but short-lived evils, the source of an abiding good. The city was rebuilt in a very improved style, and the plague of the preceding year, which still lurked in the dark recesses of the city, in houses close and ill-conditioned, and badly ventilated, was fairly burnt out, and London, as it were, though at a terrible price, purged from the infection. This dreadful plague,

which appeared slightly during the winter of 1664-5, broke out with great fury as soon as the warm weather set in, and throughout the summer the bills of mortality increased, till in the month of September, 1665, they reached their height. The city was well-nigh deserted, grass grew in the great thoroughfares, all business was, of course, suspended, and men dared not risk contagion in markets or in churches, or in other places of public assembly. The dead-carts went about the streets at first by night only, but presently in broad daylight; pest-houses were established in various quarters, and pits were dug without the city for interring the bodies of those who had died, and it came at length to such an awful pitch, that what with sick people and absentees, who had escaped into the country at the beginning of the calamity, the living could not decently bury the dead, and they were flung by cartloads into these wide and loathsome pits, several of which were dug out and filled up in succession!

On the fatal night of the 10th of September, 1665, it is computed that at least 3,000 passed into eternity, and during the first three weeks of the month the people were swept away by the devouring pestilence like leaves before the autumn winds.

But after the 10th of September the plague really abated, though for several weeks there was no very sensible diminution in the bills of mortality, but by the end of Novem

ber only 333 were registered in the weekly bills as dead of the pestilence. All through the winter, and even into the summer of 1666, cases were continually occurring, and persons were reported as dying of the distemper, and when the great fire came and swept away the habitations whence the echoes of last groans, and the sighs of bereavement had scarcely passed away, it found on many a door the red cross, and the solemn, pathetic words, "Lord have mercy on us!" which had marked the dwellings of the stricken of the plague.

and

Dr. Forster considers that autumn commences on the 10th of September, and lasts for ninety days, and. this, too, is the month of the migration of birds; the swallow, many other soft-billed birds that feed on insects, departing for a warmer climate; while towards the close the wood-lark's song is heard, and the thrush warbles merrily, and the redbreast, "unheard in summer's flaring ray," pours forth her low sweet notes. The 14th figures in the calendar as Holy Cross Day, whereon is celebrated in the Papal Church festival called the Exaltation of the Holy Cross," in commemoration of the alleged miraculous appearance of the Cross to Constantine in the sky, at midday. It was instituted on OCoccasion of the recovery of a large piece of the pretended real Cross, which a certain Persian king carried away from Jerusalem when he plundered it. The Emperor

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Heraclius defeated the Eastern monarch, retook the relic, and carried it back in triumph to Jerusalem. Such, at least, is the story narrated by certain Church authorities.

Our ancestors used to speak of the Cross as the Holy Rood, a term from which Holyrood House in Edinburgh derives its name. The actual rood was a carved or sculptured crucifix, which differs from a cross in that the one is merely a representation of the instrument of our blessed Lord's suffering and death, and the other the Cross with the image of the Saviour nailed upon it. Commonly by the crucifix was the

Virgin Mary on one side, and John the Divine on the other, though sometimes the group was composed of the crucifix, the central piece, and the four evangelists, and frequently rows of saints were added on each side. The rood was always placed in a gallery across the nave at the entrance of the chancel or choir, and this gallery was termed the rood-loft. The holy roods, or crosses, were taken down at the time of the Reformation, and the rood-loft or gallery became generally the organ-loft and gallery, as we see it still in many of our churches, though of late years the organ has in many cases been removed to the side of the building. The first rood taken down in London was that of St. Paul's Cathedral. All the others in the metropolitan churches followed in due course. You have all heard, I doubt not, of the celebrated Boxley Rood, the miraculous Rood of Grace, which, like the winking Virgin of Rimini, moved its eyes, and also its head and lips upon the approach of its faithful votaries. But after the Reformation, Dr. Kilsey, Bishop of Rochester, brought the "Rood of Grace" to London, and at St. Paul's Cross publicly took it to pieces, and showed the people the machinery by which it had been put in motion; greatly, we should imagine, to the indignation of some, and the discomfiture of others.

September 21st is the Feast of St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist, and the Anglican Church provides for the occasion a special Collect, Epistle, and Gospel, besides "proper lessons." Matthew is also called Levi, and he is mentioned as the son of Alphæus. How he was a publican (or tax-gatherer under the Romans), and how, sitting at the receipt of custom, Jesus saw him, and said to him, "Follow me!" is narrated in the fifth chapter of St. Luke's Gospel, also by St. Mark, and by the Apostle himself in his own record of his Master's life and death and sayings. Luke says, with great emphasis, "And he left all, rose up, and followed him!" St. Matthew is said to have preached the Gospel

in Ethiopia, and to have suffered martyrdom there; but there is no sufficiently authenticated account of such an event, and some Church historians maintain that he died a natural death. The ancients believed that Matthew wrote his Gospel in Hebrew, but several moderns are of opinion that it was written in the Greek. Mr. Audley remarks that Matthew has more quotations from the Old Testament than the other evangelists.

The 28th of September is called Michaelmas-day, or, as the Book of Common Prayer hath it, the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels. Our chief associations with it are like those of Lady-day, concerning monies due to us and monies to be paid, and giving notice to one's landlord, and "flitting," as some people call that season of trial and confusion, generally known moving house!"

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St. Michael, who holds the rank of Archangel, is five times mentioned in Holy Scripture, and always in a military point of view: thrice by the prophet Daniel as fighting for the Jewish Church against the Persian forces; once by St. John as opposing the dragon and his host, at the head of the angelic troops, and once by Jude, as contending with the Prince of Evil about the body of Moses. "For," said a modern reverend author, "the very ashes of God's servants have angelic protection."

Others believe that St. Michael is. indeed, none other than the Son of God Himself, the Second Person in the Blessed Trinity, and there are certain passages in the Bible which afford strong grounds for such a supposition. Bishop Horsley brings forward the title by which Gabriel spoke of Michael, "Michael your Prince," as a confirmation of this opinion. Some people have thought that there was no other archangel than St. Michael, while the Book of Enoch"-apocryphal, of coursementions others, Raphael presiding over the spirits of men, Uriel presiding over clamour and terror, and Gabriel over paradise and the cherubim. Three other archangels