he cannot be supposed essentially to have differed in sentiments from these divines, yet he saw the difficulty of reducing the Scriptures to any systematic code of human and theological institutes, and therefore when expounding the Gospel of John iii. 16, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life," he "wished John Calvin good night." A canonry of Windsor was given to him in 1639, which he relinquished when the civil war commenced in 1642. He despised the acquisition of wealth, and took pleasure in cheerful society. Having resigned his fellowship of Eton, he was obliged to live in retired lodgings in that town. He died in 1656. His will being rather a curious document, the preamble and conclusion of it are here inserted:

"In Dei nomine, Amen. Maii decimo nono, anno Domini 1656. My soul having been long since bequeathed unto the mercies of God in Jesus Christ, my only Saviour, and my body naturally bequeathing itself to dust and ashes, out of which it was taken, I, Hales of Eton, in the county of Bucks, clerk, by this my last will and testament, do dispose of the small remainder of my poor and broken estate in manner and form following.".. "As for my funeral, I ordain that at the time of the next even song after my departure, if conveniently it may be, my body be laid in the church-yard of the town of Eton, if I chance to die there, as near as may be to the body of my little godson, Jack Dickenson the elder; and this to be done in plain and simple manner, without any sermon, or ringing the bell, or calling the people together, without any unseasonable commessation or compotation, or other solemnities on such occasions usual. And I strictly command my executrix, that neither of her own head, neither at the importunity or authority of any other, neither upon any other pretence whatsoever, to take upon her to dispense with this point of my will; for as in my life I have done the church no service, so will I not that in my death the church do me any honour."

I now proceed to select some memorable passages from his writings.

"OF THE SCRIPTURES.

"How come I to know that the works which we call Livy's, are indeed his whose name they bear? Hath God left means to know the profane writings of men? Hath he left no certain means to know his own records? In effect, to us of after ages, the greatest, if not the sole outward mean of our consent to the Holy Scripture, is the voice of the church, excepting always the copies of the books themselves bearing from their birth such or such names: of the church, I say, and that not only of that part of it, which is actually existent at any time, but successively of the church ever since the time of our blessed Saviour, For all these testimonies, which from time to time are left in the writings of our forefathers, as almost every age, ever since the birth of the Gospel, hath by God's providence left us store, are the continued voice of the church witnessing unto us the truth of these books, and their authority as well; but this is only fides humano judicio et testimonio acquisita. What shall we think of fides infusa? of the inward working of the Holy Ghost in the consciences of every believer? How far it is a persuader unto us of the authority of these books, I have not much to say; only thus much in general, that doubtless the Holy Ghost doth so work in the heart of every true believer, that it leaves a further assurance, strong and sufficient to guard and stay itself upon.""

"OF PRIVATE JUDGMENT IN RELIGION.

"Infallibility hath been for a long time past the subject of great dispute and quarrel in the church; for since there was no other likelihood, but as amongst other men, so amongst Christians, doubts, debates, dissentions would arise; men always have thought it a thing very equitable, that by the providence of God, CHRIST. OBSERV. No. 40. 2 F

there should in some part of the church, or in some person, reside a power of clearing such doubts, and settling such scruples as many times possess the minds of most Christians. Now to appoint such a judge, and not to give him infallibility in his decision, but to permit him to wander and mistake in his sentence, this peradventure were not to mend, but only to change and supplant one error by bringing in another. An infallibility therefore there must be; but men have marvellously wearied themselves in seeking to find out where it is. Some have sought it in General Councils, and have conceived that if it be not there to be found, it is for certainty fled out of the world. Some have tied it to the Church of Rome, and to the Bishop of that See. Every man finds it, or thinks he finds it, accordingly as that faction or part of the church upon which he is fallen doth direct him. Thus like the men of Sodom before Lot's door, men have wearied themselves, and have gone far and near to find out that which is hard at hand. We see many times a kind of ridiculous and joculary forgetfulness of many men, seeking for that which they have in their hands; so fares it here with men who seek for infallibility in others, which either is, or ought to be in themselves; as Saul sought his father's asses, whilst they were now at home, or as Edipus in the tragedy sent to the oracle to inquire the cause of the plague in Thebes, whereas himself was the man. For, beloved, infallibility is not a favour impropriated to any one man; it is a duty alike expected at the hands of all-all must have it. St. Paul, when he gives this precept Be not deceived,' directs it not to councils, to bishops, to teachers and preachers, but to all the Galatian churches, and in them to all of all the churches in the world. Unto you, therefore, and to every one, of what sex, of what rank or degree, and place soever, from him that studies in his li brary, to him that sweats at the plough-tail, belongs this precept of St. Paul. Peradventure the dregs of the Church of Rome are not yet sufficiently washed from the hearts of many men. We know it is the principal stay and supporter of that church to suffer nothing to be inquired into, which is once concluded by them. Look through Spain and Italy; they are not men, but beasts,—and, Issachar-like, patiently crouch down under every burthen their superiors lay upon them. Margaret of Valois, not long since queen of France, built her a chapel, provided her chaplains, and large endowments for them, that so perpetually, day and night, every hour successively, without intermission, by some one or other there might intercession be made to God for her unto the world's end-a thing which herself had little care or thought of in her lifetime, as having other business to think on.

"St. Jerome, in the preface to his Comments on the Epistle to the Galatians, much commends Marcella, a gentlewoman of Rome, for this, that in her pursuit of Christian knowledge, she would receive nothing from him, after the manner of the disciples of Pythagoras, upon trust, and upon his bare word and authority, but would so thoroughly sift and try all things of herself, that she seemed,' saith he, not so much to be my scholar and hearer, as my judge.'

"Antiquity, what is it, God only excepted, but man's authority born some ages before us? Now for the truth of things, time makes no alteration; things are still the same they are, let the time be past, present, or to come. Those things which we reverence for their antiquity, what were they at their first birth? were they false, time cannot make them true; were they true, time cannot make them more true. The circumstance therefore of time, in respect of truth and error, is merely impertinent. Yet thus much must I say for antiquity, that amongst all those balancing and halting proofs, if truth have any advantage against error and deceit, it is here. For there is an antiquity which is proper to truth, and in which error can claim no part; but then it must be an antiquity most ancient. This cannot be but true, for it is God, and God is truth. All other parts of antiquity, deceit and falsehood will lay claim to, as well as truth. Most certain it is, truth is more ancient than error; for error is nothing else but deviation and swerving from the truth. Were not truth therefore first, there could be no error, since there could be no swerving from that which is not. When therefore antiquity is pleaded for the proof of any conclusion commended to you for true, be careful to know whether it be most ancient, yea or no: if it be so, then is it an invincible proof, and pleads for nothing but the truth; if otherwise, though it be as ancient, I say not as Inachus, but as Satan himself, yet it is no proof of truth.

"Universality is such a proof of truth as truth itself is ashamed of; for universality is nothing but a quainter and a trimmer name to signify the multitude. Now human authority at the strongest is but weak; but the multitude is the weakest part of human authority, it is the greatest patron of error, most easily abused, and most hardly disabused. The beginning of error may be, and mostly

is, from private persons; but the maintainer and continuer of error is the multitude. Private persons first beget errors in the multitude, and make them public; and publicness of them begets them again in private persons. If truth and goodness go by universality and multitude, what mean then the prophets and holy men of God every where in Scripture so frequently, so bitterly, to complain of the small number of good men, careful of God and truth? Neither is the complaint proper to Scripture, it is the common complaint of all that have left any records of antiquity behind them. Councils and synods, and consent of churches, these indeed may seem of some force, they are taken to be the strongest weapons which the church had fought with; yet this is still human authority after another fashion; let me add one thing, that the truth hath not been more relieved by those men, than it hath been distressed. At the Council of Nice met 318 bishops to defend the divinity of the Son of God; but at Ariminum met well near 600 bishops to deny it. I ask then what gained the truth here by a synod? Certainly, in the eye of reason, it more endangered it; for it discovered the advantage that error had among the multitude above the truth; by which reason truth might have been greatly hazarded. I have read that the nobility of Rome, upon some fancy or other, thought fit that all servants should wear a kind of garment proper to them, that so it might be known who were servants, who were freemen: but they were quickly weary of this conceit; for perceiving in what multitudes servants were in most places, they feared that the singularity of their garment might be an item to them to take notice of their multitude, and to know their own strength, and so at length take advantage of it against their masters. The device of calling councils was like that fancy of the Roman gentlemen; for many times it might well have proved a great means to have endangered the truth by making the enemies thereof to see their own strength, and work upon that advantage; for it is a speedy way to make them to see that, which for the most part is very true, that there are more which run against the truth than with it." (To be continued.)

ORIGINAL POETRY.

EASTER DAY.

THE day of Sabbath rest is gone,
And the first day's dawn draws near,
But who shall roll away the stone
That guards the sepulchre ?
Bring costly store of spices sweet,
And gums of Araby:
Then to the garden turn your feet
Where our dead Lord doth lie.
Eager and trembling, through the gloom
The band of women move;
Their steps are bent to the sacred tomb
On the last sad work of love.
Little they beed of the soldiers rude,
Who mock at the sacred dead;
The world for them has lost its good,
For the light of their hope is fled.
Behold! the stone is roll'd away,
And an angel sitteth by:
They know him by His bright array
And glorious majesty.
They stood astonished and afraid
At the heavenly messenger ;

But a gentle voice their fear forbade,
And said, "He is not here."

"That Jesus, whom ye seek, is ris'n,
The watch was set in vain;

He hath burst the gates of death's dark pris'n,

And walks on earth again."

Sadness, and fear, and doubt have flown,
Nor left a shadowy trace;
But a wondrous joyousness alone
Beams in each gladdened face.

They hasted to tell to those who wept
For the hope of Israel slain,
That He no more in the cold grave slept,
But had broke its icy chain.

And they sang their Saviour's conquer-
ing might,

Who in the mortal strife Triumphed o'er death, and brought to light

The gift of endless life.

B. M.

66

" 'LORD, TEACH US TO PRAY."

O THOU that hearest prayer
And teachest how to pray,
My grovelling heart prepare

To wing it's heavenward way,
High as Thy mercy seat to rise,
And there pour out its earnest cries.
Oft when I wish to come
Before thy presence, Lord,
My sins so strike me dumb,
I cannot speak a word;
And often when I strive to pray,
My wayward thoughts are all astray.
The world too often fills

My heart, and hinders prayer;
Too often pride instils

Its secret venom there, And lively feelings ebb or flow, Directed by that subtle foe.

Too oft, when faith is weak,
I fear my prayers are vain,
The blessings that I seek

I scarcely hope to gain ;
My wants appear too great and high
Even for thy bounty to supply.

Though driven by my need
To seek the throne of grace,
Earth's trifles oft impede

My progress to that place:
The flesh resists religion's sway,
And sloth is clamorous for delay.

Lord, give me faith and light,
Humility and love;
And from my clouded sight

The carnal film remove;
Kindle devotion's languid flame,
And bid me come in Jesu's name.
W. H. B.

LORD, THOU KNOWEST ALL THINGS: THOU KNOWEST THAT I LOVE THEE."— (John xxi. 17.)

I WILL PRAISE THEE WITH UPRIGHTNESS OF HEART WHEN I SHALL HAVE

LEARNT THY RIGHTEOUS JUDGMENTS.-(Psalm cxix. 7.)

ALMIGHTY, Eternal, and Infinite Lord,

How strong is Thine arm, and how sure is Thy word;
How sweet is Thy goodness, how just are Thy ways;
How great is Thy name, yet how faint is my praise.
For ever to laud and speak good of that Name,
A subject exhaustless, though always the same,
Should swell the full heart with unspeakable bliss,
And give of the next world, a foretaste in this.
Then why, O my soul, does thy love beat so slow,
Why thy murmur of praise so trembling and low?
Such greatness and love should thy consciousness fill,
And thro' all my powers deep fervour instil.
Oh 'tis sin that encumbers, and bids me be still,
Impatience, and pride, and an obstinate will,
I dare not, I cannot sing praise to the Lord,

While my heart in its hardness thinks scorn of His word.
My lips may profess, and Thy saints may believe,
That I love Thee in truth, and Thy precepts receive,
But thou searchest the depth of the spirit within,
And know'st how that spirit is silent thro' sin.

Oh look on these tears; thou hast taught them to flow,
And cause me in mercy Thy judgments to know;
Oh, when I have learnt to delight in thy ways,
With uprightness of heart then Thy name will I praise.

W. W.

REVIEW OF NEW PUBLICATIONS.

THE REV. R. HOUSEMAN AND THE REV. J. G. BREAY. 1. The Life and Remains of the Rev. R. HOUSEMAN, A. B., the founder, and for above forty years the incumbent Minister of St. Anne's, Lancaster, and formerly Curate to the Rev. T. ROBINSON, of Leicester. By R. F. HOUSEMAN, Esq. 1 vol. 8vo. 1841.

2. Memoir of the Rev. J. G. BREAY, B.A., Minister of Christ Church, Birmingham, and Prebendary of Lichfield; with a selection from his Correspondence, by A MEMBER OF HIS CONGREGATION.