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feeling of awe. It was, after all, the merest trifle which raised our mirth. Miss Sellon herself wore a black cloth dress, with a long train and wide sleeves, altogether a very full and flowing garment, which was lined throughout with black silk. Her cap was of white tarletan, trimmed with crimped frilling of the same material; the strings of which hung loose, were very broad, and more than a yard long; worn over this cap, and falling nearly to the ground at the back, was a black crape veil. Thus attired, and personally not wanting in dignity, she looked sufficiently imposing.

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After the lady superior had taken her seat, Dr. Pusey and Mr. Prynne came in, when Holy Communion was administered to all in the chapel, and also taken to the sister who was unable to leave her cell. After the retirement of the two clerical gentlemen, each sister approached the throne of the mother, and reverently kneeling before her, received her blessing, with imposition of hands; after kissing the forehead of each of 'her children,' she made upon it the sign of the cross, and presented to them her hand to be kissed. When

all had knelt at her feet, beginning at the highest and ending at the lowest, the reverend mother left the chapel, amid the lowly reverence of her little flock."

Such is Puseyism when full-blown! Papists bend before the Pope and kiss his toe; Puseyites reverently kneel before Miss Sellon, devoutly kiss her lily hand, and receive her benediction!

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derision. The blue ocean is no longer an object of only distant admiration. The Melachoo land has been visited by unchristianised Hindoos. Innovations considered fatal to Hindooism have crept into our society, and are doing fast and radical work. Widow marriage has been legalised and theorised, and has become a triumphant reality. Intermarriage is now being talked about, and the heretics have not been subjected to any great or serious inconvenience. In short, Brahminism, which had withstood the inroads of centuries, had triumphed over a refined, catholic, and widespread religion, and had defied the brand of the Mahometan fanatic, is now writhing under the tortures of civil strife waged by a portion of its own followers with a vehemence, a daring, and a fearlessness never witnessed before, and the consequences of which are looked forward to by every wellwisher of India."—Bengalee, Oct. 14.

THE SIN OF PONTIUS PILATE

NEVER FORGOTTEN.

Or one who represented for eleven years the horrible might of Rome to the prostrate Jewish people, it may be said that almost nothing is now known, except that he put to death One whom the Jews spoke of as the carpenter's son. In ten thousand congregations every Sunday this crime is commemorated. There is something strange and awful in this unsought pre-eminence in infamy. There is something awful in the fact, that a crime which he sought to disavow, was really perpetrated through him; that it proved to be the greatest wickedness which the world has ever seen, although Pilate knew it not; and that this unhappy man, after he had ended his earthly troubles by the death of a suicide, should never be allowed to sink into the dark oblivion that he courted for himself, when he ended his spoilt and frustrated life. Down all the ages echo the words of condemnation-" Crucified under Pontius Pilate! crucified under Pontius Pilate!"-Archbishop of York.

CONNECTION OF PRESENT WITH AN ETERNAL FUTURE. THE day of judgment is the day of God's settlement with a world that has had a long credit. It is the winding up of this earth's bankrupt estate, and each man's individual interest. It is the closing of an account that has been running on ever since the Fall. It is the day when the balance is struck, and our fate is heaven or hell; and by the manner in which we have walked in God's statutes and kept his judg. ments, our destiny is determined.

The most common action of life, its every day, every hour, is invested with a solemn grandeur when we think how they extend their issues into eternity. Our hands are now sowing the seed for that great harvest. We shall meet again all we are doing and have done. The graves shall give up their dead, and from the tombs of oblivion the past shall give up all that it holds in keeping, to be witness for or against us. Oh! think of that, and in yonder hall of inquisition see what its effect on us should be? Within those blood-stained walls, for those atrocious cruelties Rome has yet to

answer. One is under examination.. He has been assured that nothing he reveals shall be written for the purpose of being used against him. While making frank and ingenuous confession, he suddenly stops. He is dumb. They ply him with questions, flatter him, threaten him-he answers not a word. Danger makes the senses quick. His ear has caught a sound; he listens, it has tied his tongue. The truth flashes on him. Behind that screen a scribe sits committing to that fatal page every word he says, and he shall meet it all again on the day of trial.

Ah! how solemn to think that there is such a pen going in heaven, and entering on the books of judgment all we say or wish, all we think or do. Would to God we heard iteverywhere and always heard it! What a check, and what a stimulus ! Are we about to sin,how strong a curb! If slow to duty, how sharp a spur! What a motive to pray for the blood that blots out a guilty past, and for such grace as in time to come shall enable us to walk in God's statutes, to keep his judgments and do them! "Knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men."-Guthrie.

Reviews of Books.

The Works of Thomas Goodwin. D.D., some time Pastor of Magdalen College, Orford. Vol. XI. Containing the Constitution, Right, Order, and Government of the Churches of Christ, &c. Edinburgh: James Nichol. London: Nisbet and Co. WE have here an octavo volume of 546 pages of closely-printed matter, on the constitution and government of the Church of Christ; and it is the most complete and elaborate exposition and defence of Independency that we have seen. The argument brings under review the several texts relating to church fellowship, order, and government. Of course, Episcopacy, Presbyterianism, and the Connexional form of church government (which is virtually Presbyterian), are all deemed unscriptural; and Independency, or Congregationalism, isrepresented as the

normal standard of church polity. The work is written with the elaborate precision-and, at times, with the cumbrous repetition-of a legal document, drawn up by a first-rate solicitor. While we differ from this excellent man, we like to see what he has written on this subject, and admire his earnestness in defending what he believes to be right.

A Commentary or Exposition upon the Prophecies of Obadiah and Habakkuk. By EDWARD MARBURY. Edinburgh James Nichol. London: James Nisbet and Co.

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MESSES. NICHOL AND CLARK may be deemed Resurrectionists — not, indeed, exhuming men's bones, but their works; and some of them works of rare excellence, written by men whose memory had well-nigh perished. Some

of these writers, too, have taken up portions of Holy Scripture comparatively neglected by others, and have written out their thoughts most copiously; certainly, in some cases too copiously to be thoroughly read. Thus, we have a ponderous volume in folio, of nearly 700 pages, printed in small type, double columns, on the fourteen chapters of Hosea's prophecies; another volume, as large, on the three chapters of Peter's Second Epistle; and now we have before us a quarto volume of 252 pages, in small type, double columns, as a commentary on the two minor prophets Obadiah and Habakkuk. Yet, ponderous as they are, who would wish these good men's thoughts to perish? Certainly we would not. We say, Let them live, and speak to this and future ages, as witnesses for great truths, to diffuse which the men zealously laboured, and in defence of which some of them patiently suffered and triumphantly died. And though the pressure of modern duties may forbid us to read these massive volumes thoroughly, yet we can profitably use them for reference, and select many a gem which might have perished amid the dust of the antiquarian's library, or the decay of centuries. Marbury is scholastic yet practical, argumentative yet experimental, and thoroughly evangelical; and he shows how much Gospel truth there is involved in the phraseology of Old Testament prophets. There is also that in which we moderns lamentably fail-a keen perception of the errors of Popery, and a healthy hatred of its abominations.

Tithes and Offerings: A Treatise on the Principles and Practice of Devoting Portions of our Substance to the Use of God. By C. W. BOASE. Edinburgh: T. and T. Clark.

THE accumulation of wealth in this country, and the numerous claims growing out of benevolent and religious institutions at home and abroad, are forcing upon the conscience of the Church the consideration of the great question, "How much owest thou to my Lord ?" And this question is now taking a definite shape as to the law of proportion between income and appropriation-between what a man has, and what he ought to give. We verily believe that as a people we have been guilty, in a great degree, of the neglect of a sacred duty. Very many even of

those who are members of the Church have gone on accumulating property, some rapidly and some slowly, without ever asking themselves, seriously and religiously, How much more ought I now to give, in my improved circumstances, to support God's cause and help God's poor? Indeed, a feeling too general has prevailed, which, if put into words, would read something like this-" My property is my own, and I have a right to do what I like with my own." Nay, brother, this is a fatal error. It is not thine own, but the Lord's ; thou hast not a right to do with it as thou mayest please; for thou art bound in solemn duty to do with it as thy Lord shall please. Thou art not thine own, but the Lord's; thy time is not thine own, but the Lord's; thy property is not thine own, but the Lord's; and to the Lord thou art accountable for the use or abuse of every moment of time, and for the use or abuse of every shilling, nay, every penny of thy property; and the day of reckoning is not far distant. The Lord's poor are in want, and thou must relieve them; the Lord's cause needs ministers, missionaries, sanctuaries, schools, Bibles, tracts, and other means of usefulness; and thou art solemnly bound to help all these agencies and means. Thy property is given thee for these great purposes; and if His cause should languish for the want of that which thou hast the means to give, the consequences will be at thy door. Art thou prepared to bear these consequences when the responsibility is brought home to thee at the bar of God? Ponder these solemn inquiries, and act as a faithful, loving steward for God, and not as a poor, penurious soul, with all thy sympathies dried up like a miser, or a hard bargain-driver. Give, and thou shalt be blessed, yea twice blessed, in giving. "The Systematic Benevolence Society" has done much good in diffusing knowledge and arousing the conscience on this subject; and we are glad to know that a number of our excellent friends are acting out its principles, and God is blessing them in their deeds. Much good has been done also by the timely publication of welladapted works, such as "Gold and the Gospel," Binney on the use of "Money," &c. We have here another work of this class before us. Mr. Boase has entered thoroughly into the question, as to the law of proportion in giving. He contends that the evan

gelical law is to give a tenth of our income, supplemented by free will offerings; and he enters into minute calculations as to this proportion, and gives specific rules as to its appropriations. Some will probably think he is too specific and minute, and some of his suggestions, we think, are extravagant, and will damage the cause he wishes to promote; but he is as bountiful in stating the advantages and blessings as he is in inculcating the duty.

Apologetic Lectures on the Fundamental

Truths of Christianity. By ERNST LUTHARDT. Translated by Sophia TAYLER. Edinburgh: T. and T. Clark.

THIS is an important work. It takes in a wide range of thought, surveys most of the objections adduced by men of modern science against the chronology and cosmogony of the Bible, and meets them, so far as they can be met, by a hasty glance at facts and available arguments. The work is too popular and discursive to be very profound and elaborate; yet it is neither superficial nor illogical; and the style, for a translation, is remarkably flowing and easy. We cordially recommend the book to our readers, as an antidote to the poison of infidelity and rationalism so called, but which, in truth, is as irrational as it is irreligious, presumptuous, and profane.

The Lives of Early Methodist Preachers, chiefly Written by Themselves. Edited, with an Introductory Essay, by THOS.JACKSON. Third Edition, with Additional Lives. In six volumes.

Vol. I. London Wesleyan Conference Office, City Road.

WE are glad to see the third edition of this valuable work-a work as seasonable as it is valuable. We need more of the simplicity, zeal, and energy of the early Methodists, and the early Methodist preachers; and it is well to have the breathing pages of their biography before us, cheap and easy of access. What wonders those good men wrought! But their labours were proportionate to their success. They were early risers; they preached nine and ten times each week; they travelled, on horseback or on foot, thousands of miles in the year; they lived on humble fare; they preached extemporaneous sermons, glowing with the ardour of love and the flow of a native eloquence;

they exemplified in their own experience and demeanour the life and power of the religion they set forth; and they went from their closets to the pulpit full of the Spirit. Hence God was with them, and signs followed. In their travels there followed a train of light and blessing. Oh, for a return of those hallowed times-those days of blessed memory-those days which were the harbingers of the multiplied privileges which now everywhere surround us and our families! What à glorious heirloom is Methodism! Well may our patriarchal friend, the venerable Mr. Jackson, say in his admirable preface," Methodist congregations owe a debt of gratitude to those brave and godly men. They now assemble in commodious places of worship, where they hear the Gospel in its purity, unmixed with Popery, scepticism, and heathen fate. They can pass from their homes to the house of God without disturbance, and worship without fear, which their fathers could not do; and this privilege has been secured to them by the John Nelsons of the last century."

This volume contains the autobiography of John Nelson, Christopher Hopper, Thomas Mitchell, Peter Jaco, and John Haimes, with such additions from the pen of the editor as were deemed necessary to give them completeness. We thank Mr. Jackson, and hope the work will have an extensive circulation.

The Lord's Day; or, The Christian

Sabbath its History, Obligation,
Importance, and Blessedness. By
the Rev. JOHN WESLEY THOMAS.
London: Wesleyan Conference
Office.

WE are glad to meet Mr. Thomas on this theme, and to find it skilfully and faithfully handled. The work is distributed under seventeen headings, or chapters. 1. A General Statement of the Subject. 2. Modern Theories of the Sabbath. 3. The Universal and Permanent Obligation of the Sabbath. 4. The Primeval Origin of the Sabbath. 5. The Patriarchal Sabbath. 6. Traces of the Sabbath among Pagan Nations. 7. The Sabbath of the Decalogue. 8. The Lord's day; or, the Christian Sabbath. 9. The Lord's day of the Primitive Church. 10. The Lord's day from Constantine to the Reformation. 11. The Lord's day of the Reformed Churches. 12. The Lord's day of

Modern Times. 13. Actual and Threatened Sabbath desecration in Great Britain and Ireland. 14. The Necessity of a Weekly Sabbath, and its Physical, Moral, and Religious Benefits. 15. The Joyous Character of the Sabbath. 16. The Eternal Sabbath. 17. The Practical Conclusion. These extend to 269 pages, and, of course, the matter under each head is necessarily. brief; but the work is one of great merit, exhibiting much research and sound learning, and the argument throughout is conducted in a clear and logical manner, and with satisfactory effect. We hope the work will secure, as it deserves, a widely-extended circulation.

The Mother's Friend. Vol. VI. New Series. London: Jackson, Walford, and Hodder, 27, Paternoster Row. THIS little serial is a very good and suitable publication for mothers.

The Child's Own Tune Book. By JAMES TURLE. London: Tonic Sol-Fa Agency, 43, Paternoster Row.

WE do not understand music, and, therefore, can only state that the author or compiler is the organist of Westminster Abbey, and that the

tunes are harmonized for four voices and the pianoforte.

The City Diary and Almanack for 1866. London: W. H. Collingridge, City Press, 117 to 119, Aldersgate Street.

BESIDES the calendar, it has much useful information, and a copious skeleton for a diary consisting of fifty-two leaves, with the name and date of each day in the year printed thereon, and ruled for the various memoranda which the owner may find it convenient to note. Cassell's Illustrated Dictionary of the Bible. Part XXXIII.

A WORK which still retains its high character as an able, though popular, exposition of the sacred volume.

BOOKS RECEIVED.

The Sunday Magazine. December,
1865. Edited by Dr. Guthrie.
London: Strahan and Co.
The Leisure Hour. December, 1865.
The Religious Tract Society.
The Sunday at Home. A Family
Magazine. December, 1865. The
Religious Tract Society.

Old Jonathan; or, The District and Parish Helper. Sold by all Booksellers.

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GENERAL REMARKS. UNUSUAL press of matter for this month, which compels us to omit several articles already in type, necessitates us to use the utmost brevity in our remarks on Connexional matters; though, had we space, we should like to descant on various matters of importance.

We are sure our friends will be delighted with the report of the important movement at Stockport. We have now a noble chapel in course of erection, in the very best situation that could be selected. The chapel will be an honour to the Connexion and an ornament to the town-I should say one of the finest buildings in Stockport. Our friends, led on by the generous contributions of Messrs. Hallam and Chapman, are

evincing great liberality. The good cause in Manchester South has received a new impulse. The foundation-stone of a new chapel in Boston Street was laid by our excellent friend, Theophilus Jackson, Esq., on November 25th, and afterwards a most excellent meeting was held in the schoolroom, which was crowded. We hope a report of the interesting occasion will be furnished for our next number. Our friends at Staleybridge have been celebrating the jubilee of their Sunday-school, and in connection therewith have resolved to raise £1,000 towards the erection of a new Sunday-school. This is an important project; the sum of £360 is already raised towards its accomplishment. The good friends in Barnsley are displaying praise

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