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unless, indeed, she asked it for the sake of the young gentleman with the blue coat and frilled wrist-bands across the table. "When a Christian goes into the world because he sees it his call, yet while he feels it also his cross, it will not hurt him." Then guiding his discourse towards some of his city friends: "A Christian in the world is like a man transacting business in the rain; he will not suddenly leave his client because it rains; but the moment the business is done he is gone; as it is said in the Acts, Being let go, they went to their own company." This brings up Hannah More and her book, on the "Manners of the Great;" and the minister expresses his high opinion of Miss More. Some of the party do not know who she is, and he tells them that she is a gifted lady who used to be the intimate friend of Johnson, Horace, Walpole, and Sir Joshua Reynolds, the idol of the West-end grandees, and the writer of plays for Drury Lane; but who has lately come out with some faithful appeals to her aristocratic acquaintances on the subject of heart-religion, and which are making a great sensation. Aweel," says a Scotch elder from Swallow Street, "Miss Moore is very tawlanted, and I hope has got the root of the matter; but I misdoubt if there be not a laygal twang in her still." And in this remark he is heartily seconded by the spectacled Calvinist from Lesmahagow, who has been present all the time, but has not ventured to speak till he found in front this Ajax with his Westminster shield. And the minister smiles quaintly in acknowledgment that they are more than half right, but repeats his admiration and his hope for the accomplished authoress. And then he opens his Bible, and after singing one of the Olney hymns, reads the 18th chapter of the Acts. "You see that Apollos met with two candid people in the Church; that they neither ran away because he was legal, nor were carried away because he was eloquent." And after a short but fervent prayer, catholic, comprehensive, and experimental, and turning into devotion the substance of their colloquy, it is as late as nine o'clock, and the little party begins to separate. Some are evidently constant visitors. The taciturn gentleman who never spoke a word, but who, at every significant sentence, smacked his lips, as if he were clasping a casket over a gem, and meant to keep it, occupied a prescriptive chair, and so did the invalid lady who has ordered her sedan to Bedford Row. In leave-taking the host has a kind word for every one, and has a great deal to say to his north-country visitor. I was a wild beast on the coast of Africa, but the Lord caught me and tamed me, and now you come to see me as people go to look at the lions in the Tower." Never was lion so entirely tamed as JoHN NEWTON. Commencing life as a desperado and dread-nought, and scaring his companions by his peerless profanity and heaven-daring wick

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edness, and then by his remarkable recovery, signalizing the riches of God's grace, you might have expected a Boanerges to come out of the converted bucanier. But never was transformation more complete. Except the blue jacket at the fire-side, and a few sea faring habits; except the lion's hide, nothing survived of the African lion. The Puritans would have said that the lion was slain, and that honey was found in its carcass. Affable and easy of access, his house was the resort of those who sought a skilful spiritual counsellor, and knowing it to be the form of service for which he was best fitted, instead of fretting at the constant interruption, or nervously absconding to some calm retreat, his consulting-room, in London's most trodden thoroughfare, was always open. And though he was sometimes disappointed in those of whom his confiding nature hoped too soon, his hopelessness was the very reason why others turned out so well. There was a time when Christian principle was a smoking flax in Claudius Buchanan and William Wilberforce; but on Newton's hearth, and under the afflatus of God's Spirit, it soon burst forth in flame. And if his conversation effected inuch, his correspondence accomplished more. His Narrative is wonderful, and his Hymns are very sweet; but his Letters make him eminent. Our theology supplies nothing that can rival them; and it is when we recollect how many quires of these epistles were yearly issuing from his study, that we perceive what an influential and useful man the rector of St. Mary's was. Many volumes are in print, and we have read others in manuscript. All are fresh and various, and all distinguished by the same playful sincerity and easy wisdom, and transfusive warmth. All are rich in experimental piety, and all radiant with gracious vivacity. The whole collection is a

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Cardiphonia." They are all the utterance of the heart. And they will stand comparison with the happiest efforts of the most famous pens. For example, take up the Life and Correspondence of Hannah More, and how artificial does everything appear alongside of John Newton! Here is one of her own best specimens, religious and sparkling, a jet of spiritual champagne. And there is the effusion of some laudatory bishop, slow and sweet, like a cascade of treacle or a fall of honey. But here, amidst ' labour and painful art, is the well of water surrounded with its native moss; nature, grace, wisdom, goodness-John Newton and nothing more. Except his own friend, Cowper, who was not a professed divine, no letters of that stiff century read so free, and none have preserved the writer's heart so well.

We might have noticed others. We would gladly have found a place for the Hon. and Rev. W. B. Cadogan, a name still dear to Reading. and another illustrious exception to the "not many noble." We should have sketched John William Fletcher, that saintly man and sera

phic minister. And it would have been right to record the services of Joseph Milner at Hull, and his brother Isaac at Cambridge. It was by his Church History that the former served the cause of the gospel; and it was a great service to write the first history, not of popes and councils, but vital Christianity, and write it so well. Isaac brought to the defence of the gospel a name which was itself a tower of strength. The "Incomparable" Senior Wrangler, and gifted with a colossal intellect, he was nervous and indolent. In the cathedral of Carlisle he preached from time to time powerful sermons, which made a great impression; and the known identification of the Vice-chancellor with the evangelical cause, lent it a lofty sanction in Simeon's university. But he was remiss and shy, and seldom came out publicly. He ought to have been a Pharos; but he was a light-house with the shutters closed. A splendid illumination it was for his niece and Dr. Jowett, and a few favoured friends in the light keeper's parlour; but his talents and principles together ought to have been the light of the world. Nor have we enumerated the conspicuous names in Wesleyism, and the old English Dissent, and the Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion, any one of which would have supplied a list as long, and in some respects as remarkable, as that now given. Nor have we specified the services of eminent minds among the laity, such as Cowper, who secured for evangelism an exalted place in English literature; and Wilberforce, who introduced it into Parliament; and Hannah More, who obtained an audience for it in the most sumptuous drawing-rooms, and by her tracts pioneered its entrance into countless cottages. These all fulfilled a function. Cowper was the first to show how purest taste and finest genius could co-exist with warmest love to Jesus Christ. His Task, and Hymns, and Letters, were the several arches of a bridge, which has since been traversed by Foster, Hall, and other pilgrims, who showed plainly inspiration in their steps and heaven in their eye. Wilberforce, by the combined movements for the reformation of morals and the abolition of slavery, set the example to the great philanthropic institutions of our day; and the ascendency won by his personal worth and enchanting eloquence supplied the nucleus round which Bible and other societies were easily gathered. And the moralist of Barley Wood, by the sensible tone of her "Cheap Repository," and her educational victories among the young savages of Cheddar, gave an active and useful direction to feminine piety. Besides all which, her clever and pointed essays helped to expose hollow profession, and turn on evangelical motives in channels of selfdenying industry. The connecting isthmus betwixt the old "Duty of Man," and Romaine's "Life of Faith," may be found in the Practical Piety" of Hannah More.

SCRIPTURE ILLUSTRATIONS.

(From the Pictorial Bible.)

ECCLESIASTES XII;

463

THIS chapter contains a very striking and interesting picture of the infirmities of age under a variety of strong, but appropriate figures. It has attracted great attention, and has perhaps received a larger amount of illustration, variously applied, than any portion of Scripture of equal extent. It has often been considered to form an allegorical description of old age, and its final close in death. But an allegory is a representation of one thing, which is intended to excite the representation of another thing -as where the vine is chosen by the Psalmist to depict the condition of the Hebrew people. Whereas, in the present chapter, no ruling and predominant object is selected for the comparison; but a variety of images are mingled together, to form a vivid de"It is scription of venerable but complaining age. not therefore, "observes Mr. Holden, "strictly speak- | ing, an allegory; and cannot, without great caution, be subjected to the rules of allegorical interpretation. It is to be considered only as a highly figurative and poetical representation of old age, in which the various infirmities and imbecilities of that period of life are portrayed by a great variety of images, in themselves unconnected, yet mutually tending to identify the author, that there is no adequate foundation for the We are disposed to agree with the same prototype." very elaborate; scientific, and medical investigation to which the description has been subjected by Scheuchzer in his Physica Sacra, Dr. Mead, in his Medica Sacra, Dr. Smith in his Solomon's Portraiture of Old observes, "more just to consider it as a highly-finished Age, and other distinguished writers. "It is," he picture of the pains and debilities consequent upon decaying nature; delineated, indeed, by a skilful hand and glowing imagination, but only intended to exhibit such effects of age as naturally suggest themselves to a sagacious and observing mind. It is therefore improper to explain by the aid of (modern) medical science a poetical description which requires a popular illustration, founded on Asiatic customs and the nature of figurative language."

"Verse 2. "While the sun, or the light, or the moon; or the stars, be not darkened."-This figure, derived from the observation of the sun, moon, &c., is thought by many to refer to the decay of the powers and faculties of the mind; but others, among whom is Holden, think that it is intended as a general statement of the pains and miseries of age, serving as an introduction to the more specific details which follow.

"Nor the clouds return after the rain."-As clouds and rain do not appear during the summer in Judæa, we may well understand this image to be taken from the winter season, denoting the succession of pains and infirmities, which so often attend the winter of

life.

Verse 3. "In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows be darkened."

"The keepers of the house."-Probably the hands and arms are intended, as being to the body what guards and keepers are to a palace; or rather, perhaps, so called as providing for the sustenance of the house or body. How they "tremble" in old age is well known. The Targum, followed by many, conceives the ribs to be intended; but they do not tremble, and indeed become more fixed in age than in youth.

"The strong men."-As an incurvation of the spine is one of the infirmities of old age, some think that

the vertebrae of the back are here meant. seems more probable that the lower limbs, which bow and totter beneath the aged, are denoted. "The grinders."-The allusion is apparently derived from the females who daily grind the corn required for the day. It thus denotes the teeth which masticate and grind down the food for the stomach.

"Those that look out of the windows."-This undoubtedly denotes the eyes, which in old age become dimmed or "darkened."

Verse 4. "And the doors shall le shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low."-This appears to refer to the act of eating, which, in consequence of the loss of teeth, is usually performed by aged persons with closed lips; and then also the gums, with their smooth surfaces, are obliged to perform the office of the teeth, masticating the food with slow and silent labour, which is probably what is meant by the low sound of the grinding.

"And he shall rise up at the voice of the bird."Some suppose the cock to be meant, and that the text denotes that the aged sleep so unquietly that they wake and rise at the cock-crowing. This has, however, the defect of not being true, since the aged are not remarkable for early rising. The text does not necessarily denote that they arise from the bed at the voice of the bird, but that they are roused by it; and as people of any age may be roused by the crowing of the cock, we are disposed to take the word rendered a bird," in its usual signification as denoting a sparrow, or any small bird; and we shall then have the sense that the aged sleep so unsoundly that the twittering of the smallest birds will suffice to rouse them.

"And all the daughters of music shall be brought low."-Some refer this to the non-enjoyment of the songs of the singing-women, which is one of the circumstances by which old Barzillai describes the infirmities of age. (2 Sam. xix. 35.) But we are much more disposed to agree with those who suppose it to apply to the decay of the organs employed in the production and enjoyment of music.

5. "Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way."-This and the following clause doubtless apply to the difficulty which the aged find in ascending high places, as well as to the timidity which the consciousness of their infirm condition leads them to exhibit when they venture to walk out in the public ways; and which, in the narrow streets of the East, is necessarily more marked than with us.

"And the almond-tree shall flourish."-As the almond-tree has white blossoms, this is generally supposed to refer to the white hair of aged persons.

"And the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail."-By the word rendered "grasshopper," a species of locust is doubtless intended. Locusts are eaten in the East, and doubtless were so by the Jews; and as then it was probably the smallest creature eaten by them, this may explain why it is selected to denote that the least weight is a burden to a very aged man. Some, however, think that a comparison of an old person to a locust is implied; and they would translate, The locust is a burden to itself." This opinion has been advocated by Dr. Smith, whose explanation has been summed up by Parkhurst: "The dry, shrunk, shrivelled, crumpling, scraggy old man -his backbone sticking out, his knees projecting forward, his arms backward, his head downward, and the apophyses, or bunching parts of the bones, in general enlarged-is very aptly described by that insect. And from this exact likeness, without all doubt, arose the fable of Tithonus, that, living to an extreme old age, he was at last turned into a grasshopper."

Such a comparison is not so fanciful as might ap

"Because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets."—The preceding portion of this remarkable description refers to old age; and we now come to another class of circumstances, descriptive of what attends and denotes death itself. The change of subject is clearly announced by the present clause, which refers probably to the attendance of actual or hired mourners. We have an interesting illustration of this subject, copied from an oblong Egyptian tablet in the collection of Sig. Giovanni d'Athanasi, in whose catalogue we have the following description: When this object was at Rome, Rosellini stated it to be his opinion, that the subject on it was intended as a representation of a Jewish funeral procession, and a tablet to one of that sect. This opinion is greatly supported by the total dissimilarity of the figures here represented to those found in the sepulchral tablets of the Egyptians, and also from the peculiar costume in which they are habited. It has likewise been advanced, that it only forms a portion of a procession, which fact does not at all appear conclusive. It probably represents an entire family of Jews, following the ashes or portions of the body of the deceased contained in the case before them; and, from an examination of the stone, it bas evidently formed one end of a complete tablet. The entire absence of the usual symbols and Egyptian deities tends strongly to prove the correctness of Rosellini's opinion."

It is quite clear that the tablet does not represent an Egyptian procession; but that we should consider it a Jewish one, is not perhaps equally evident. Whether so or not, its proximity of time and place renders it an interesting relic in the way of illustra tion, particularly as it does, more than any other apcient remain which we have seen, exhibit some of the funeral customs distinctly mentioned in Scripture-such, for instance, as that of throwing dust upon the head. The mourning action in some of the figures clearly denotes the funeral character of the procession.

6. "Or ever the silver cord be loosed."-This is usually interpreted of that resplendent white cord (the spinal marrow) which passes through the entire length of the backbone, and which is very liable to be relaxed and weakened in old age, or a part thereof altogether broken in its functions, producing the various paralytic complaints, the tremors and debilities, to which the aged are so frequently subject.

"Or the golden bowl be broken."-This is com- Į monly understood of the skull; and some pains have been taken to discover the source of the epithet "golden." There is, however, no occasion to suppose that it refers to colour or any physical circumstance; but we may conclude it to be a term of excellence, denoting the importance of the skull and its invaluable contents.

"Or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern."-The usual explanation of these terms is, that the pitcher denotes the large canals which issue from the heart, and receive therefrom the blood as from a fountain; that the fountain is the right ventricle of the heart, and the cistern the left ventricle; and that the wheel is the great artery

the sanction of the pope, and the joy ard admiration of the people, it was transported to this country. And here it lies in solemn state, the countenace calm and uncommonly beautiful, the throat cut from ear to ear, and the wound as fresh and bright as when the knife did its bloody work, and the whole body exhibiting the beauty, without the deformity, of death. It is one of the most beautiful wax figures ever made, though, after all, it is not capable of deceiving any one, unless his mind is prepared for anything.

I took up, as I thought, a printed description of the saint, which was lying before the altar, and found myself reading a prayer to the martyr, thanking him for his great condescension in coming to this far distant land that he might take it under his own special guardianship, and most fervently imploring his intercession with the Virgin and her Son, in behalf of the suppliant.

I turned to the attendant and asked him if he was sure this was the same body that was martyred so many years since; and the expression of his face, as well as the language of his lips, showed how much I had shocked him by suggesting even a doubt of the matter. He evidently believed that it was the same body, as much as he believed in his own existence; and the whole people think like him in relation to this lying wonder. Is it possible? I asked myself. Why do they believe? Oh, the priest says so! And they do not dare to go any farther. They stand and gaze upon this body with fear and awe, without daring to touch it, to examine it, to analyze it, and to know for themselves the truth or the falsehood.

Disgusted and sick at heart, I was turning away, when the attendant directed our attention to other wonders under another altar on the other side of the church. We followed him, and were soon gazing upon the most holy bones of a most holy saint, who had many ages since sealed his testimony to the faith of the Church with his precious blood. These bones were spread out in a glass case, and interspersed with artificial flowers, and receiving the most reverent homage from devout worshippers. And why should they not? Have they not wrought miracles? Did they not heal some of the sick in Montreal during the last winter? The priest said so, and the people believed it. And why should they not believe? Alas for human nature! How much easier it is, apparently, to crowd such absurdities into the minds of sinners, than it is to lead them to see and appreciate the simple and intelligible gospel of Christ!

Now we talk of the sincerity of the priesthood, and the necessity of charity. But I say let our charity be discriminating, and never confound truth with error. The poor people are indeed worthy of all our kindest feelings, our

warmest sympathies and prayers. But do not these priests know that that martyr is a grand lie and humbug? and do they not know that! when they attribute miraculous power to the miserable bones in their church, they are guilty of a most stupendous fraud in the face of Heaven? The more intelligent Roman Catholic people, doubtless, see their fraud, and are at heart Infidels; while the majority, duped by such absurdities, become more sincerely devoted to their religion, and more bigoted in their opposition to the Bible. I cannot think of their servile subjection to the priesthood, and of their prospective conversion to the truth, without exclaiming, "With men this is impossible; but with God all things are pos sible!"

Another form of superstition, evidently on the increase here, is devotion to the cross-not the doctrine of the cross, but the material cross of wood, or of silver, or of gold. It is by no means uncommon to see a huge wooden cross erected in front of dwelling-houses in the country, and in such cases it doubtless be comes their guardian divinity. One such I saw between Lachine and this city, standing in the front door-yard, and attracting the notice of all passers-by. I suppose this feeling towards the cross has been greatly augmented by the act of their bishop not long since. He has erected a very large and beautiful cross upon a high mountain, some twenty miles from Montreal, where it may catch the first rays of the morning, and reflect the last light of the setting sun, which" lingers and plays upon its summit." When I first saw it, I was sailing on the St. Lawrence, a short distance below Montreal. The sun was going down in the west, pouring a flood of light upon the green fields on either side of the river, and covering the distant mountain with the garment of his glory. Suddenly my eye caught the gilded cross upon the highest point of the mountain, standing out in bold relief against the sky." It was a splendid spectacle, but one poorly adapted to remind one of the "accursed tree on which the Son of God expiated the sins of men. The mind, with such external repre sentations before it, does not think of sin, of guilt, of condemnation, of redemption, of holiness, and of a pure and sinless heaven. It is arrested by the external, and rests in it. Superstition may be strengthened, but that worship which consists not in being at Jerusa lem, or Samaria, or in any mountain, but in having the spirit right before God, is not promoted or enjoyed. Canada is covered all over with crosses. When will the time come that Christ will dwell in the hearts of this people, the hope of glory!