barren, telling of another clime and another people, rises up like an insurmountable barrier between the North and South; whilst around me were a thousand evidences of the change which a few hours had effected. How rich the vegetation! Vines climbed and clustered around the full-foliaged trees, as is the custom in Lombardy, whilst the mulberry and the chestnut and the caruba and tall poplar, with many others, mingled their varicoloured and variformed foliage together, in one feature alone agreeing-in the luxuriance of their vegetation. How different, too, is man in his costume and his modes of living! Black sparkling eyes and dark flowing hair had taken the place of the blue eyes and blonde locks of the Swiss. There was an expression in the countenance which no longer spoke of sprightliness and vigour, but which, if it was full of languor, betokened at the same time a greater depth of sentiment. What a treasure, too, the women carry on their heads-it is their dowry-those long silver combs! But I, who did not regard them in that point of view, have always thought them rather heavy than picturesque. As for the men, they were lounging on seats ranged outside the cafés, smoking or dreaming, or looking most intently at nothing-a very favourite pastime with your Italian. Little piccaninny glasses of "rhum" were circulating as a wind-up to the cup of café nero; and here they will all sit till about our hour of night, when some lounge off to the house of a friend, to form one in a partito di carte, and others to bed, to save oil and the immense labour of looking at nothing. Even the very brute creation seem to partake of the universal lassitude. Dogs were lying about as if devoted to the dolce far niente, and cattle, who, instead of cropping the flowery mead, as with us, in stabulis gaudent, all the day, were now, at the approach of evening, dragging their sluggish forms along to give their reluctant milk. Amidst such altered scenes, then, one arrives at Domo d'Ossola, where perhaps one of the first things that will strike a stranger will be the architecture of the inn-not one of the spruce, compact, one-faced buildings of the North, so constructed as to condense every possible ray of heat; but a large, square, four-sided building, with an open court in the centre. It is a wretched inn, however, in spite of its being one of the first specimens of Italian architecture; and to every one who can, I would recommend to push on to Baveno. There is, however, near Domo d'Ossola, a spot called "Calvario," which is even more characteristic of Italy. On an eminence, Devotion has erected a church; and by the path which leads to it, a number of oratorios, here called "Stazioni," each representing by paintings and inscriptions the principal facts of the sufferings and death of Christ. Here comes many a pilgrim to pray at each, and thus atone for the past or lay up a provision of merits for the future. For me, I did not attempt to pray till I got to the top, and then, if I did not pray, I could not but feel in the very depths of my heart the power and goodness of the Being who had reared those mighty mountains, which now in the darkness of the evening seemed close at hand, and had stretched abroad the smiling and luxuriant plain which lay at our feet. Here I stood and gazed till the setting sun had sunk beneath the horizon, and then, bidding adieu to the Simplon, turned to descend. To-morrow, then, I shall once more look upon the Lago Maggiore and its lovely isles, and to-morrow and to-morrow. -But being now fairly out of Switzerland, I shall

bid you adieu. Perhaps, indeed, I have led you somewhat farther than I should have done, for Switzerland was the agreement-its mountains and its valleys. Yet it would have been barely courteous to turn my back upon you immediately on arriving at the frontier, so that I have lingered on, or induced you to do so, a little, little farther; but now I bid you a final adieu, at least as far as Switzerland is concerned; for if not tired of your companion, I may perhaps, at some future time, coax you into rambling with me through some of the by-ways of Italy. Farewell, then, a long farewell, to the snows and avalanches of Switzerland-her gigantic mountains and her lovely lakes her swelling knolls and smiling vales-her people, " dur et sec," grasping and unpoetical, creators of revolutions and manufacturers of republics, freemen in word, but tyrants in heart-would that Voltaire had extinguished you all beneath his wig, or that the emperor Paul had drowned you in his tumbler of water! Farewell, a long farewell, to all your natural grandeur and moral littleness! Hail to thee, Italy, land of beauty and of song-land of the sunny clime, all hail! Though low thou liest beneath the iron sway of the tyrant, yet is there a passing loveliness about thee which enters the very soul. Whatever men may say, thou art not dead, but sleeping; the shadows of the mighty past still hover round thee, and in the silence of oppression whisper to thy heart of hearts many a tale of past glory and many a brilliant hope. Be it so! May the time of thy regeneration be at hand! But what have I now to do with thy political condition? I am come, a dreamer of many years, to look upon thy beauties. Each spot of ground for me is holy; fountain and river murmur some pleasant tradition of the past; the ruined arch and broken wall are worth a thousand histories; with every object, whether animate or inanimate, and with every sound, have I some classic associations; and whether it be the green lizard as it hurries by me timidly, or Soracte heaving up its solitary form, or Baia's ruins intruding upon the ocean, these and ten thousand other objects which cross my daily path all carry me back to the classic page on which, when yet a boy, I dwelt delighted. Nature, too-oh, how lovely hast thou made this land! I breathe its air and feel its softening influence, and thank God for the power even of respiration! I gaze on its calm blue seas, or look down into their coral depths; I watch the fairy hues which cover hill and dale, as though an angel's hand had laid them on. I look upon the earth, teeming with plenty and glowing with beauty, till I sometimes forget that I am of the earth earthy, and almost dream of heaven. Again, then, hail to thee, thou lovely land! Receive me back, an humble pilgrim, to thy bosom ! Look kindly upon me as I bend before thy holy shrine; in the day of thy lowliness may I yet remember thy former grandeur; and in thy present loveliness, as it is bursting forth from the thraldom of winter, may I derive a happy augury for thy future!

HENRY W

EVIL FOR THE SAKE OF GOOD.

HE who does evil that good may come, pays a toll to the Devil to let him into heaven.-Guesses at Truth.

MEMOIR OF THE LATE REV. ROBERT ASPLAND.

CHAPTER XXII.

THE year 1816 was also darkened to Mr. Aspland by the loss of several valued friends, amongst whom were Rev. Jeremiah Joyce and Rev. William Vidler. By the death of the former gentleman he lost not only a friend, but a zealous and punctual coadjutor in the administration of Dissenting trusts and charities, and an able correspondent of the Monthly Repository. Mr. Joyce was engaged on the composition of a series of articles on Natural Theology, thirteen of which he lived to complete, and they appeared in Vols. X. and XI. of the Magazine. On March 29th, Mr. Aspland, accompanied by the students of the Academy, had listened with no small pleasure to Mr. Joyce's admirable sermon before the Unitarian Society, on "the Subserviency of Free Inquiry and Religious Knowledge among the Lower Classes of Society to the Prosperity and Permanence of a State." The interest of the service was painfully heightened by the circumstance, that within a few doors of the chapel (in Essex Street) lay the corpse of the preacher's elder brother, Mr. Joshua Joyce, who had died very suddenly early that morning. To his brother Joshua Mr. Joyce was very tenderly attached; but such was his sense of the importance of fulfilling his engagement to the Society of which he was the Secretary, that he subdued his personal grief so far as to deliver his discourse with considerable fervour. The exordium was uttered with a faltering tongue, but the agitation of his spirit afterwards gave depth and animation to his delivery, and he was rewarded by the sympathy and close attention of his hearers. In less than three months Mr. Joyce himself died. On the 21st of June, Mr. Aspland received from him a letter, written in his usual cheerful and friendly style, in which he promised to prepare an article (one of the series alluded to) for the following month. On the evening of that day Mr. Joyce suddenly expired. Brief tributes to his worth were paid by Dr. Shepherd, Mr. Rutt and Rev. Thos. Jervis, but the memoir was entrusted to Mr. Aspland, and appeared in the Monthly Repository, XII. 697-704.

On Friday, August 23rd, died Rev. William Vidler, in the 59th year of his age. In him popular Unitarianism lost a disinterested and very able advocate. Mr. Aspland had during more than eleven years found in him a zealous associate in many public labours, and a fast personal

Two circumstances entitle this good man to our respect. By his forbearing, with equal generosity and justice, to exercise all his rights as his father's heir, his younger brother Jeremiah was enabled, on coming of age, to quit a mechanical employment, and to gratify his natural bent and serve mankind, by devoting himself to literature and the Christian ministry. When, in 1794, his brother's life was endangered by the charge of high treason, to the untiring exertions of Mr. Joshua Joyce did the accused, in part at least, owe their successful defence. The prisoners were served with the names of 421 persons as the panel from which the jury would be selected. In the short space of ten days, he succeeded, with the assistance of friends who equally appreciated the importance of the crisis, in ascertaining the character and political bias of all these jurymen. Horne Tooke gratefully acknowledged that himself and friends were more indebted to the exertions of Mr. Joshua Joyce than to those of any other man, in defeating the prosecutions. The creatures of the Government were detected, and a tyrannical Minister was baffled.

friend. Masculine sense, an ardent love of religious truth, an accurate knowledge of the peculiarities of the different Dissenting sects of England, a strong dislike to bigotry, and great fearlessness, were some of the qualities that were common to both of them. Independently of their frequently being associated together in the performance of public duties, the conversation and character of each was attractive to the other. In early life, Mr. Vidler was of a lean, feeble, and it was feared consumptive habit; but during his latter years he had become excessively corpulent,* and neither severe bodily exercise nor habitual abstinence could keep in check his constitutional tendency. Latterly, asthma had disabled him from public speaking, and occasioned him much distress. During his long confinement, Mr. Aspland frequently saw him, first at West Ham, and afterwards at the residence of his son-in-law in London. Throughout his sufferings, of which he early foresaw the issue, he was self-possessed and often cheerful. His death-bed was serene and hopeful. On the 21st of August, Mr. Aspland saw him for the last time; he expressed perfect satisfaction with the religious views he had adopted, his conscience bearing him testimony that in every change of his views he had been actuated solely by the fear of God and the love of Christ, and an earnest desire to do good to mankind. He gave with much calmness instructions respecting his funeral. When his friend, much affected by the scene, rose to take his leave, Mr. Vidler clasped his hand with warm affection, and said with great solemnity, Before the face of the Master, the Friend, the Brother-before the face of Jesus Christ, I expect to meet you again. Farewell! Two days after, he breathed his last. Such a death-bed as this, and that which he had recently with still deeper emotions stood by at Wicken, entitled Mr. Aspland to say, that "the Unitarian doctrine had nothing to fear, if examined by the characters which it had created and modelled," many of whom had shewn "proofs of the power of their religion to give support under the pressure of affliction, and to yield consolation and good hope in the decline of nature and the immediate prospect of dissolution."

Mr.Vidler was buried by his friend in the ground of the New GravelPit meeting-house, and, at the earnest request of many members of the Parliament-Court congregation, the funeral oration was printed in the Christian Reformer (1st Series, Vol. II. p. 425). On the following Sunday evening, Mr. Aspland preached the funeral sermon to a densely crowded audience. He had written for the occasion a sermon on the subject of Reproach for the Sake of Truth the Christian's Glory; but when he entered the pulpit so long occupied by his departed friend, he became dissatisfied with his written discourse, and, giving free way to the emotions which filled his heart, while the congregation were singing the hymn, he sketched out the plan of an entirely new address from 2 Tim. iv. 6—8. If the writer may trust his youthful recollections, assisted as they are by the judgment of older friends, this purely ex

In one of their journeys together to visit the churches in Kent, as they were ascending Shooter's Hill, the hind wheel, on Mr. A.'s side of the carriage, having lost its linch-pin, became disengaged, and rolled backwards down the hill, but Mr. Vidler's weight prevented an overturn and kept the carriage in æquilibrio.

tempore sermon was appropriate and deeply impressive.* The biographical sketch of Mr. Vidler's life and character with which it concluded was subsequently expanded into a full memoir, and published in three parts in the Monthly Repository (Vol. XII.). Mr. Vidler's writings will have given the present generation but an inadequate idea of the man, whose person and manners were thus described by his friend:

"Notwithstanding the imperfectness of his education, his knowledge was very extensive. He had read most of the standard books, in the English language, in the various departments of literature; and his clearness of conception and retentiveness of memory often enabled him to surprise his more intimate friends by the exhibition of his acquirements. He was quick in his perceptions, but at the same time patient in his inquiries and cool in his judgment. His conversation was formed after the model of the style which prevailed a century ago, and was occasionally quaint, frequently proverbial and generally sententious, but always intelligent and commonly tinctured with good-humour. Instances have been already given of his presence of mind in sudden altercations, and his smartness in repartee. Under offence, he assumed great severity of countenance, and administered rebuke in a tone and manner which compelled it to be felt; but he was habitually willing to be pleased, and into whatever family he entered, his presence commonly diffused cheerfulness throughout the whole circle. He was fond of children, and on entering a room where they were, immediately attracted them to his knee. His heart was soon affected by any tale of distress, and in an early period of his residence in London he was much imposed on by persons affecting an equal degree of distress and of religion; in such cases he sometimes gave away all the money that he possessed; yet if he suspected fraud, no one expressed quicker or stronger indignation. His bodily make, tall and upright; his step, regular and firm; and his countenance, open and unvarying, indicated great courage. Mr. Teulon says of him, that he was a man to whom fear seemed unknown.' In short, his was the old English character mellowed and refined by the gospel. "As a preacher he excelled chiefly in strength of reasoning, simplicity and perspicuity of style, and an open, manly elocution. His voice was clear and strong, his look penetrating, his attitude erect and self-possessed, and his person dignified. He would sometimes indulge in the pulpit an ironical turn of expression, which produced a striking effect. In prayer he was less happy than in preaching, and he was accustomed to acknowledge the difficulty which he found in discharging this part of his public duty to his own satisfaction. His devotional exercises as well as his sermons were framed in a great measure in the language of Scripture, and this often gave them an interesting appearance of solemnity. Of the merits of his pulpit services we must judge by their effects; and in this point of view a high rank must be allotted to him amongst popular divines, for there have been few preachers who have been able to make upon the minds of an auditory so deep an impression, not of feeling merely, but of knowledge and truth."

The condition of the Protestants in the South of France excited amongst the friends of liberty in England, in the years 1815 and 1816, much alarm and sympathy. In the month of July in the previous year, a massacre had taken place, in which hundreds perished, in the city of Nismes, and a still larger number fell victims in the neighbour

* At this period of his life he retained all his powers of extempore address. They were shortly after again tested in the pulpit at Parliament Court. After the commencement of the service on the evening of November 17, 1816, he discovered that he had left his sermon-case at home. He had previously preached twice at Hackney that day, once extempore, but he immediately gave, without the slightest embarrassment, a sermon on a third subject without the aid of a note.