of peace with God, through the blood of the covenant, is proclaimed to us, who shall make it known to those perishing in sin? The answer in each case is, every one. Were no command given, the common principles of our nature would teach us that nothing but the grossest selfishness would claim to be exempted from the joyful duty of extending to others the blessing which we have received ourselves.

But let us see how the apostles themselves understood the precept. Their own narrative shall inform us. "At that time there was a great persecution against the church that was at Jerusalem, and they were scattered abroad throughout all the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles." "Therefore, they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word." "And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which, when they were come to Antioch, spake also to the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord." These men were not apostles, nor even original disciples of Christ, for they were men of Cyprus and Cyrene. Yet they went everywhere preaching the word, and in so doing they pleased the Master, for the Holy Spirit accompanied their labors with the blessing from on high. The ascended Saviour thus approved of their conduct, and testified that their understanding of his last command was correct.

Indeed the Saviour requires every disciple, as soon as he becomes a partaker of divine grace, to become a herald of salvation to his fellow-men. He is a fountain, from which is to flow a river of living water. The doing of this is the test of his discipleship. If he is a branch that beareth not fruit, his end is to be cut off. He is "the salt of the earth, and if the salt have lost its savor, wherewith shall it be salted. It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out and trodden under foot of men." Secondly, every disciple is bound to employ for Christ every peculiar gift with which he may have been endowed. Thirdly, every man possessed of the gifts for the ministry mentioned in the New Testament is bound to consecrate them to Christ, either in connection with his secular pursuits or by devoting his whole time to this particular service.

If this be so, you see that in the church of Christ there is no ministerial caste; no class elevated in rank above their brethren, on whom devolves the discharge of the more dignified or more honorable portions of Christian labor, while the rest

'Acts viii. 1, 4.

of the disciples are to do nothing but raise the funds necessary for their support. The minister does the same work that is to be done by every other member of the body of Christ; but since he does it exclusively, he may be expected to do it more to edification. Is it his business to labor for the conversion of sinners and the sanctification of the body of Christ? so is it theirs. In everything which they do as disciples, he is to be their example. I know that we now restrict to the ministry the administration of the ordinances, and to this rule I think there can be no objection. BUT WE ALL KNOW THAT FOR THIS RESTRICTION WE HAVE NO EXAMPLE IN THE NEW TESTAMENT.

WILLIAM H. PRESCOTT.

THIS distinguished historian was born in Salem, Massachusetts, on the 4th of May, 1796. His grandfather was Colonel William Prescott, who, in conjunction with General Putnam, commanded at the battle of Bunker Hill. His father, Hon. Wm. Prescott, was born in Pepperell, Massachusetts; and after residing in Salem from 1798 to 1808, removed to Boston, where for nearly forty years he practised law, eminently distinguished as a jurist and as one of the wisest and best as well as ablest men Massachusetts has produced.

Our author had the benefit of his early classical training under Dr. Gardner, of Boston, who was a pupil of Dr. Parr, and in 1811 he entered Harvard College. It was his intention after graduating to devote himself to the profession of his father, but just before commencement an accident deprived him of one of his eyes, and the other, from sympathy, became so weak that he could not use it with safety. He spent two years in travelling in England and on the continent, where he consulted the best oculists, but obtained no relief. On his return home, the question presented itself to him, to what he should devote his life. Feeling that professional life would make greater requisitions upon the organs of sight than literary occupation, in which he could make greater use of the eyes of others, he resolved on becoming an historian, and to devote ten years in preparing himself for the work. It was a beautiful sight, indeed, to see a young man of fortune, whose partial deprivation of sight might have been an excuse for declining all exertion, thus rising above his affliction, and with an industry that never

tired, and a courage that never faltered, toiling day after day and year after year for an end so worthy and so noble.'

He selected for his subject the "History of Ferdinand and Isabella,” one of the few important subjects of European history which had not been fully treated of, and which seemed to invite the hand of a master. This great work appeared in 1838, and was published simultaneously in London and Boston. It was received on both sides of the Atlantic with the highest praise. It has since run through many editions,

In the preface to his "History of the Conquest of Peru," he thus (1847) writes of himself: "While at the University, I received an injury in one of my eyes, which deprived me of the sight of it. The other, soon after, was attacked by inflammation so severely that for some time I lost the sight of that also; and, though it was subsequently restored, the organ was so much disordered as to remain permanently debilitated; while, twice in my life since, I have been deprived of the use of it for all purposes of reading and writing for several years together. It was during one of these periods that I received from Madrid the materials for the History of Ferdinand and Isabella; and in my disabled condition, with my transatlantic treasures lying around me, I was like one pining from hunger in the midst of abundance. In this state I resolved to make the ear, if possible, do the work of the eye. I procured the services of a secretary, who read to me the various authorities; and in time I became so far familiar with the sounds of the different foreign languages (to some of which, indeed, I had been previously accustomed by a residence abroad), that I could comprehend his reading without much difficulty. As the reader proceeded, I dictated copious notes; and, when these had swelled to a considerable amount, they were read to me repeatedly, till I had mastered their contents sufficiently for the purposes of composition. The same notes furnished an easy means of reference to sustain the text.

"Still another difficulty occurred in the mechanical labor of writing, which I found a severe trial to the eye. This was remedied by means of a writingcase, such as is used by the blind, which enabled me to commit my thoughts to paper without the aid of sight, serving me equally well in the dark as in the light. The characters thus formed made a near approach to hieroglyphics; but my secretary became expert in the art of deciphering, and a fair copy-with a liberal allowance for unavoidable blunders--was transcribed for the use of the printer. I have described the process with more minuteness, as some curiosity has been repeatedly expressed in reference to my modus operandi under my privations, and the knowledge of it may be of some assistance to others in similar circumstances.

*

*

"But a change has taken place during the last two years. The sight of my eye has become gradually dimmed, while the sensibility of the nerve has been so far increased, that for several weeks of the last year I have not opened a volume, and through the whole time I have not had the use of it, on an average, for more than an hour a day. Nor can I cheer myself with the delusive expectation that, impaired as the organ has become, from having been tasked, probably, beyond its strength, it can ever renew its youth, or be of much service to me hereafter in my literary researches. Whether I shall have the heart to enter, as I had proposed, on a new and more extensive field of historical labor, with these impediments, I cannot say. Perhaps long habit, and a natural desire to follow up the enreer which I have so long pursued, may make this, in a manner, necessary, as my past experience has already proved that it is practicable."

Mr. Prescott's work is one of the most succeful historical productions of our time. Besides the merits which we have already alluded to, the author

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and been translated into German, Italian, French, and Spanish. This was followed by his "Conquest of Mexico," in 1843; and in 1847 appeared his "Conquest of Peru.” In both of these works he draws largely from manuscript materials received from Spain; both are written in the author's most attractive and brilliant style; and both were followed by the highest and most gratifying success in Europe and America.

In 1850, Mr. Prescott made a short visit to England, where he was received with marked kindness and respect by men most distinguished in society and letters, and where the ancient University of Oxford conferred on him the honorary degree of Doctor in Civil Law.

RETURN OF COLUMBUS.

Great was the agitation in the little community of Palos, as they beheld the well-known vessel of the admiral re-entering their harbor. Their desponding imaginations had long since consigned him to a watery grave; for, in addition to the preternatural horrors which hung over the voyage, they had experienced the most stormy and disastrous winter within the recollection of the oldest mariners. Most of them had relatives or friends on board. They thronged immediately to the shore to assure themselves with their own eyes of the truth of their return. When they beheld their faces once more, and saw them accompanied by the numerous evidences which they brought back of the success of the expedition, they burst forth in acclamations of joy and gratulation. They awaited the landing of Columbus, when the whole population of the place accompanied him and his crew to the principal church, where solemn thanksgivings were offered up for their return; while every bell in the village sent forth a joyous peel in honor of the glorious event. The admiral was too desirous of presenting himself before the sovereigns, to protract his stay long at Palos. He took with him on his journey specimens of the multifarious products of the newly discovered regions.

He

possesses one which, in our opinion, is worth all the rest—that is, impartiality. The inhabitant of another world, he seems to have shaken off all the prejudices of ours; he has written a history without party spirit, and without hias of any sort. In a word, he has, in every respect, made a most valuable addition to our historical literature.”— Edinburgh Review, lxviii. 404.

"An historical work that need hardly fear a comparison with any that has issued from the European press since this century began."-London Quarterly Review, lxiv. 58.

was accompanied by several of the native islanders, arrayed in their simple barbaric costume, and decorated, as he passed through the principal cities, with collars, bracelets, and other ornaments of gold, rudely fashioned. He exhibited also considerable quantities of the same metal in dust, or in crude masses, numerous vegetable exotics, possessed of aromatic or medicinal virtue, and several kinds of quadrupeds unknown in Europe, and birds whose varieties of gaudy plumage gave a brilliant effect to the pageant. The admiral's progress through the country was everywhere impeded by the multitudes thronging forth to gaze at the extraordinary spectacle, and the more extraordinary man, who, in the emphatic language of that time, which has now lost its force from its familiarity, first revealed the existence of a "New World." As he passed through the busy, populous city of Seville, every window, balcony, and housetop, which could afford a glimpse of him, is described to have been crowded with spectators. It was the middle of April before Columbus reached Barcelona. The nobility and cavaliers in attendance on the court, together with the authorities of the city, came to the gates to receive him, and escorted him to the royal presence. Ferdinand and Isabella were seated, with their son, Prince John, under a superb canopy of state, awaiting his arrival. On his approach, they rose from their seats, and, extending their hands to him to salute, caused him to be seated before them. These were unprecedented marks of condescension, to a person of Columbus's rank, in the haughty and ceremonious court of Castile. It was, indeed, the proudest moment in the life of Columbus. He had fully established the truth of his long-contested theory, in the face of argument, sophistry, sneer, skepticism, and contempt. He had achieved this, not by chance, but by calculation, supported through the most adverse circumstances by consummate conduct. The honors paid him, which had hitherto been reserved only for rank, or fortune, or military success, purchased by the blood and tears of thousands, were, in his case, a homage to intellectual power, successfully exerted in behalf of the noblest interests of humanity.

QUEEN ISABELLA.

Her person was of the middle height, and well proportioned. She had a clear, fresh complexion, with light blue eyes and auburn hair, a style of beauty exceedingly rare in Spain. Her