in hopes of again catching the fine strains of the miserere, but was too late; and only found a great number of priests washing the far distant altar over that saint's reputed tomb with red wine, and afterwards wiping it down with small brooms made for the purpose. Their appearance was so absurd, skipping one after another up the steps, whisking the broom along the altar, and then down again at the other side, that, smiling in sheer simplicity at their amusement, reminding me as it did of the pranks of so many school-boys, I turned away to examine, for the twentieth time, the numberless gems of art with which this wonderful edifice is studded, and was only roused from my contemplations by the tinkling of a little bell in a distant part of the building, followed by a sudden and profound silence. Approaching on tiptoe to see the cause, I found the immense crowd, with the canons and priests at their head, prostrate upon the marble floor, occasionally looking up with the most intense reverence, and then throwing themselves again fiat upon their faces, and beating their heads against the floor in a manner denoting the deepest abjection. It was some time before I could discern the object of all this excessive adoration, which was truly awful to behold; when, following the direction of the eyes of the worshippers, I observed several priests in a lofty gallery, exhibiting, by the dim light of a few wax tapers, several objects that appeared to be inclosed in frames like pictures, which they elevated, and carried slowly along the front of the gallery. A reference to my pamphlet of the ceremonies enlightened me by the information, that the objects of this veneration were-first, portion of the true cross on which our Saviour died!" 2nd," the lance which pierced his side!!" and last, but not the least wonderful, "the impression of his face on a cloth, taken on his way to Calvary!!!" This last is stated in the guide-books at Rome, to be as perfect as when taken, and to be as stiff as a plaster cast. Of this, however, I can give no account, the public never having any nearer view of it than at the distance of some sixty or eighty feet, being the probable height of the gallery in which all these relics are preserved. I may add, that the same adoration is paid to the above alleged relics on the day following, viz., Good Friday, and again on Easter Sunday by the pope, cardinals, and the whole hierarchy of the church of Rome, amounting to upwards of 200, as well as I could calculate. During the functions of the former of these days, another genuine specimen of "creature worship" is presented to view; but, fearing I might misrepresent it in attempting a description, I give it in the words of authority, viz. :— 66 a "III. PRAYERS, ADORATION OF THE CROSS. "The celebrant, laying aside the chasuble, receives from a deacon a cross covered with a black veil, which is removed by degrees (observe here the stage-effect), and presenting it to the assistants, says, Ecce lignum crucis' (Behold the wood of the cross)! Two tenors answer In quo salus' (In which iwood] is safety); and the whole choir, Venite adoremus' (Come, let us worship)! when all prostern themselves except the celebrant, who, advancing to the gospel side of the altar, uncovers the right arm of the cross, repeating in a louder voice, Ecce lignum crucis the choir responding as before. At the centre of the altar he uncovers it in full, saying in a still louder tone, 'Ecce lignum crucis!' the same response being made for the last time. It is then carried to the steps of the altar, the pope and all present kneeling" (Ceremonics, p.30; see also pp. 31, 32). I abstain from encumbering your columns further with a description of the remaining ceremonies of the week, including Saturday and Easter Sunday, referring your readers to the "Book of Ceremonies" itself (which I fancy may be had in England), whilst I proceed at once to offer a few remarks upon the preceding facts. Without attempting to enter into all the hairsplitting niceties of latria, hyperdoulia, and douliaterms invented by Romish theologians to mete out and define the exact degree of worship which may be given by the members of their communion respectively to the Trinity, the Virgin Mary, and the saints-or to dis cuss the merits of "positive" and "relative" worship, or essaying to fathom the uncertain depths of the "due honour and veneration" commanded to be given to images by the creed of pope Pius fourth; all these being as far beyond my comprehension as they are unknown to scripture-I ask every discriminating reader if I am not justified in the conclusion I come to, viz., that if any reliance is to be placed upon ocular demonstration, all these arbitrary distinctions are practically lost sight of when, at the fountain-head of popery, her votaries are seen to prostrate themselves before stocks and stones, in a manner far more humiliating and slavish even than at high mass, when (according to their creed), "the real substantial body and blood, together with the soul and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ," is elevated as an object legiti mately demanding the highest description of adorntion? Furthermore, in order to show what that church herself means when she points her worshippers to the wooden cross and relics, we have but to examine her offices as quoted above-" Behold the wood of the cross, in which is safety ;" and if words and actions have any meaning, and the eyes, ears, and understanding are worthy of any credit, we have a case of gross idolatry perpetrated, annually at least, in her very citadel. And here I beg to be understood as altogether disclaiming any pretensions to prying into man's heart-that high prerogative belonging not to his fellow-man; but as simply adducing the only evidence of which the nature of the thing admits, viz., the evidence of one's own senses. If Rome shut the door to all but the very worst of inferences, I cannot help it. Again, sir, let me refer your readers to another prayer, used by the same parties during the functions of Good Friday (see "Book of Ceremonies," pp. 31 and 32), where the wooden cross is thus invocated-"O crux ave, spes unica, hoc passionis tempore, auge piis justitiam, reisque dona veniam!" which, for the sake of the merely English reader, is thus translated"Hail, O cross! our only hope in this paschal season; increase grace to the pious, and grant pardon to the guilty!" and then ask-why is this prayer not translated in the English missal* ? Is it not because English Roman catholics would be startled at their own idolatrous service? In conclusion, I would remark that a protestant reader, who hears every sabbath the solemn injunc tion, "Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven image; thou shalt not bow down unto them, nor worship them”—making no arbitrary distinction of positive and relative worship; and who remembers that it is written" Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve," without the remotest glimmering of an idea of hyperdoulia and doulia, but contemplating only one object of worship; and, again, that "God is a spirit, and they that worship him must worship him," not through the sensual media of wooden crosses and pseudo-relics, but "in spirit and in truth," admitting but of one species of worship; and, lastly, takes to heart the fearful threatening contained in the following passage-" What profiteth the graven image, that the maker thercof hath graven it; the molten image, and a teacher of lies, that the maker of his work trusteth therein, to make dumb idols? Woe unto him that saith to the 6 wood, awake; to the dumb stone, arise, it shall teach! (and the prophet might have added, " to the wooden cross, Hail, O cross, our only hope!'")-behold, it is laid over with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in the midst of it" (Habak. ii. 18, 19); beside scores of other passages to the same effect: such a reader, I say, will feel no difficulty in concluding tha above services to be palpably idolatrous, and as being precisely those forbidden by, and denounced in, the inspired word of God. And if my Roman catholic ⚫ See R. Missal for the 3rd May. the buffetings of Satan, which our Lord sustained? Is it such a heart-piercing affliction to be deserted of friends? what was it then for him who was the Son of God's love, the darling of his bosom, to be deserted of his Father, which made him cry out, to the aston Countrymen would but for one moment suspend their prejudices in favour of the infallible teaching of their church, and exercise their own judgments with candour and sincerity upon the "law and testimony"more especially upon the texts quoted above-carefully comparing them with the practices before de-ishment of heaven and earth, "My God, my God, scribed; and then let them reflect that the bible at all events is true, whatever may be the value of tradition; and I doubt not but their good sense would, with the grace of God, direct them to regard their church as an unnatural mother, offering to her children "stones" for food instead of "bread," and lead them to cast the dogmas of saint and relic worship "to the moles and to the bats," as being alike unscriptural, unjustifiable, and unprofitable-at once dis-honourable to God and degrading to man. It was my intention to have offered a few remarks upon the splendour of the ceremonies of the papal court, with a view to show how they pander to the lowest feelings of our fallen nature, and bewilder the minds of the ignorant and unstable, who are induced to reverence the religion because of the pompous display it here makes of every thing on earth that can conspire to lend additional gorgeousness to its usual dazzling exterior; as also to have commented on the march of mind displayed in teaching her worshippers at this day that palms blessed by man, and signed with the cross, possess the virtue of " preserving fields, habitations, and persons from accidents;" but that I find my letter already sufficiently lengthy, and feel content to leave these subjects to the rightmindedness of Englishmen, under the well-grounded assurance that they can distinguish vain show from the retiring nature of true religion in the former, and at a glance discover the wretched taste and lamentable superstition of the latter. The fact is that, unhap why hast thou forsaken me?" Is a chain so heavy, a prison so loathsome, the sentence and execution of death so dreadful? O, what was it for him who made heaven and earth to be bound with a chain, hurried up and down from one unrighteous judge to another; mocked, abused, spit upon, buffeted, reviled, cast into prison, arraigned, condemned, executed in a most shameful and an accursed manner? O, what was it for him to endure all this contradiction of sinners, rage of the devil, and wrath of God, in comparison of whom the most righteous person that ever was, may say, with the good thief on the cross-" And we indeed justly; but he, what evil hath he done?" And thus, as the Lord Jesus, by the sensible experience of his own passion, came perfectly to understand what his poor members suffer while they are in the body, so we, by the remainders of his cross, which he hath bequeathed to us as a legacy, come in some measure to understand the sufferings of Christ; or at least, by comparing things of such vast disproportion, to guess at what we cannot understand. Our own troubles enable us much better to conceive what love burned in that heart, towards our sinful souls, when nailed to the cross for their salvation.-Venn's Letters. Poetry. pily, these things are believed in Italy and other THE TRAVELLER, THE OLD MAN, AND THE Roman catholic countries I have visited, where the pure word of God is still a scaled book to the laity, who receive their knowledge of it entirely through the priesthood of a church which, as I conceive, has been satisfactorily shown to have diluted it, and rendered it of no effect, by her traditions. But, thank God, the blaze of gospel light in this favoured land is too bright for such inventions of man to pass current; hence the policy of the church of Rome is either altogether to suppress them here, or else to leave them in her liturgy as a dead letter, wrapped up in a language not understood of her people. Lancaster. I remain, sir, respectfully yours, The Cabinet. SUFFERINGS OF JESUS.-In our prosperity we pass by the cross, that is carelessly and regardlessly; at the best we do but shake our heads a little. The reading of the story of Christ's passion stirs up some compassion towards him, and passion against his persecutors; but it is quickly gone: we forget as soon as we get into the world again; but now let God prick our flesh with some sore affliction; let him fill our bones with pain, and set us on fire with a burning fever; let our feet be hurt in the stocks, or the iron enter into our souls; let us be destitute, afflicted, tormented, &c., then happily will we sit down and look upon him whom we have pierced, and begin to say within ourselves, And are the chips of the cross so heavy? What then was the cross itself, which first my Redeemer did bear, and then it did bear him? Are a few bodily pains so bitter? what then were the agonics which the Lord of glory sustained in his soul? Is the wrath of man so piercing? what was the wrath of God which scorched his righteous soul? Are the buffetings of men so grievous? what were LILY. BY HENRY CLARKE. (For the Church of England Magazine.) TRAVELLER. AGED wanderer! name, I pray, OLD MAN. Time hath bleached these tresses gray: Where I trace the Father's care TRAVELLER. Wanderer, thy thoughts, I see, OLD MAN. Traveller, the sun has set- Guisboro', Yorkshire, Jan. 3. Miscellaneous. THE ENGLISH REFORMERS.-Those persons who give to our reformers credit for the courage which they displayed in the flames, and regard their sufferings, as confined to their martyrdom, do them poor justice. To jostle with so many offensive obstacles for so many long years; to persevere unto the end in the midst of so much to thwart, to disappoint, to irritate; to feel themselves earnest, sincere, and single-hearted, and to have to encounter so much hypocrisy, doubledealing, and pretence; to work their weary way through a sordid and mercenary generation, who had a zeal for God's service on their tongues, but who in their hearts admired nothing of heaven save the riches of its pavement; to see the goodly fruils of all their labours likely to perish through sectarian divisions, which might very probably have been healed by timely precaution, and the adoption (at some cost, to be sure) of measures which they were the first to recommend; these were trials by that slow fire of temptation which it requires a stout heart and a high principle to sustain; and though there might be many (as Milton ungenerously and ungratefully puts it) who would give their bodies to be burned if the occasion demanded it, yet there would be few who, were they so tried, would find themselves so unweary in well-doing. They, however, have their reward; and it was a noble prize for which they struggled. They are themselves gone to heaven in their chariot of fire, and to their country they have bequeathed as a mantle, a free use of the bible, a reasonable faith, a pure ritual, principles of toleration, liberty of conscience, and that virtue which goeth out of all these things; whereby a nation is made to put forth its otherwise dormant strength in the prosecution of com merce, of manufactures, of agriculture, of science, and of whatever else belongs to inextinguishable enterprise.-Blunt's History of the Reformation. FETISCHE. Shortly after the commencement of the Wesleyan mission, a fetische, named Akwah, came from the interior to Cape Coast town, who professed to be able, when he had bruised a bead to powder, to unite the particles together again, and make it what it was before. Several persons put his skill to the test, and he contrived so adroitly to slip other beads into the places of the powdered ones, that the spectators were led to believe that he had really restored the broken beads to their former state. He professed, moreover, that he could thrust his finger through a stone, and produced one with a hole in it, which hole he said was made by his finger; and he managed to obtain credit with the people for having done it, although they did not see the alleged feat performed. He stated, moreover, that he had sufficient influence to call apes from the bush, and make them talk with the people; but that he could not do this in the daytime, because he said the apes were timid, and shunned the light. He therefore took his dupes into the bush after dark, and they returned into the town perfectly satisfied that they had conversed with apes. By such exploits he gained great renown, and considerable profit; and then proceeded to Glimna, and Commenda, and having convinced the people there of the great powers of his fetische, he returned to Cape Coast town. After his return, a native trader possessed of some wealth, was taken ill, and consulted Akwah, who engaged speedily to restore him to health. The trader then expressed a wish to witness some of the great feats of which he had heard so much, and especially desired to hear the apes talk. Akwah was quite ready to comply with his request; but as the apes were still averse to the light, it was arranged that the meeting should be deferred until eight o'clock in the evening. The gospel was, however, just beginning to exert sufficient influence upon the mind of the trader to awaken some doubt as to the powers of the fetischeman; and he resolved to use every precaution to prevent himself from being imposed upon. He accordingly instructed his servant boys, who were to accompany him with a present of rum, to take care to ascertain who or what it was to whom they gave it; and at the appointed time, taking four flasks of rum, containing about one gallon, he proceeded to the appointed place, near to the spot where the mission-house now stands. All things being ready, Akwah began to call for the apes, telling them that a man of distinction had come to hear them, and begging them to honour his fetische by obeying the summons. At length a rushing noise was heard in the bush, and a small voice proceeded from it, saying, "We are come: give us some rum." The trader immediately sprang forward, saying, "I will give it to them;" but Akwah interposed, telling him that it would be more consistent with his dignity to sit down, and allow his servants to perform the duty. Little, however, did Akwah suspect that the boys had been previously instructed as to the part which they should act, or anticipate the result which followed. The boys took the flasks, and thrust them into the bush tended a flask in one hand, stretched out also the whence the voices proceeded; and each, as he exother, that he might be able to ascertain, by feeling, what was the recipient. It being quite dark, this manœuvre could not be perceived; and immediately one of the boys called out to his master, "My father! my father! it is not an ape; 1 have caught a boy's hand!" "Hold it fast," replied the trader, "until I come and satisfy myself;" but in the struggle which ensued the captive regained his liberty,and the trader and his boys pursued the fugitives, and ascertained that they were a number of boys who had been trained by Akwah to personate apes. On their return to the bush, the trader and his servants found that the fetische boys, in their haste, had left the bottles they had brought, into which to empty the trader's fiasks for the use of their master; but Akwah himself had taken to his heels, and was never seen or heard of spell with which the popular superstition had bound more at Cape Coast town. This discovery broke the the mind of the trader, and he soon after became a member of Christian society.-Beeckam's “ Ashantee and the Gold Coast." London: 1841. London: Published by JAMES BURNS, 17 Portman Street, Portman Square: W. EDWARDS, 12 Ave Maria Lane, St. Paul's; and to be procured, by order, of all Booksellers in Town and Country. PRINTED BY JOSEPH BOGERSON, 24 NORFOLK STREET, STRAND, LONDON. THE DUTY OF THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN "BOUGHT WITH A PRICE." BY THE REV. CHARLES RAWLINGS, A.B., Curate of St. Stephen's and St. Dennis, Corneall. ST. PAUL declares (1 Cor. vi. 19, 20) "ye are not your own; for ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's." The important principle assumed by the apostle is one which people in general are reluctant to admit-"Ye are not your own;" and, therefore, they betray equal reluctance to acknowledge the propriety of the exhortation deduced from the principle assumed, "Glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's." To imagine ourselves independent of God is a grand mistake, and is another fearful evidence of the corruption and depravity of our nature. No man is, or can be, his own: we may be free from any human yoke; we may not groan under the oppression of arbitrary power; we may exult in the enjoyment of civil and religious liberty; but still we are not our own, as it regards God, the duties we owe him, and the manner in which we are to employ the talents committed to our charge. There is to be no limited or partial view to the divine glory, but there is to be an universal regard to that high and commanding object: we are to glorify God in our body and in our spirit, which are his. We must not, however, suppose that we can add any thing to the essential glory of Jehovah"our goodness extendeth not to him;" he is the centre of all perfection; and around his august character beam all the bright splendour of moral loveliness and beauty. "He chargeth his angels with folly," and the very VOL. XII.-NO. CCCXXXIV. PRICE 1d. "heavens are not pure in his sight!" Whatever we do, we cannot add any thing to the glory of God, or lend one additional ray to the lustre of his crown. Still God esteems himself glorified by our services Whoso offereth praise, glorifieth me." There are many ways in which we may glorify the Lord our God; and there are many favourable opportunities which we may embrace, and which we ought to embrace, for this sacred purpose. With our tongues we may speak to the honour of Jehovah's name, and celebrate the anthems of his praise. We may labour to promote his cause, and advance his kingdom in the world: every effort that we make for the suppression of vice, immorality, and general wickedness, is an effort made for the furtherance of the glory of God, by a proportionate weakening of the power of the devil. Again, we are called upon to glorify God by a due and regular attendance on the ordinances of God, and by an enforcement upon others of the duty and the privilege of coming to share with ourselves the blessed means of grace. Still further, we are to glorify God by remembering the sabbath-day, to keep it holy; whilst we are encouraged by that gracious declaration, "If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day, and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable, and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words, then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." A due observance of the Lord's day is not con [London: Joseph Rogerson, 24, Norfolk-street, Strand.] fined, however, to an attendance on the public ordinances of religion, although that is a very important part: the whole of the sabbath-day is to be consecrated to the Lord. When we return home from the sanctuary of Jehovah's house, we should carry along with us a holy savour and unction from the services in which we have been engaged: we should carefully meditate on what we have heard, talk over the subject with our friends and in our families; and, above all, we should pray that the blessing of God may accompany the word preached, to the profit and edification of our own souls and those of others. In this man ner we may bring abundant glory to God; and is it not highly reasonable that we should labour, by all means, to promote the divine glory? This was manifestly the sentiment of St. Paul in his affectionate and impressive address to the believers at Rome: "I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." What can be more in harmony with the suggestions of enlightened reason, than that we should love, serve, and obey him who has conferred such an inestimable benefit upon us as the redemption and salvation of our souls? Consider, again, what is so delightful as to be ever glorifying God! This constitutes the happiness of saints and angels in the celestial world: they serve God day and night in his temple, without weariness, interruption, or end, and their song of adoring praise is everlastingly the same "Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever." Amen. CHURCH MUSIC*. BY EDWARD HODGES, MUs. Doc., Late of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, and now Director of the Music of the Parish of Trinity Church, New York. No. I. CHURCH music is either vocal or instrumental, or of that mixed kind which results from the combination of the two. To limit the essay within reasonable bounds, I shall confine myself to this latter kind, viz., vocal music accompanied by the organ only; thus avoiding all discussion upon the lawfulness or eligibility of the use of instruments in divine worship, and assuming that the point will not be disputed, that a good organ in good hands is not a hindrance but a help to devotion. Church music may be again distributed into choral -viz., that which is to be performed by a choir only This essay, not published in England, has been forwarded to us, and we gladly insert it in our pages. It is really most desirable that more attention should be paid to church psalmody. Scarce a month passes that three or four new selections of hymns do not appear-an evil in itself; but how rarely do we hear good congregational singing?-ED. | and congregational. And here we approach a topic upon which, as there is much misunderstanding and erroneous principle prevalent, it will be well to dilate a little. A notion, false and groundless as a pagan dogma, is yet entertained by many worthy and pious people, that all the singing introduced in divine service should be of such a nature as to permit all perunsupported alike by reason and common sense, by sons present to unite in its performance-a notion the analogy of the case, by the authority of holy scripture, and by the usage of the Christian church in all ages. The use of music of some kind in holy offices being recognized by all sects and denominations, with the unimportant exception of the quakers and cognate enthusiasts, it were irrational and absurd to confine it to its simplest and least engaging forms; thus either of this fascinating and peculiarly sacred science to relinquishing all the higher and nobler developments worldly and profane uses, or virtually condemning them to total extinction. How much better, how much more reasonable is it, that they to whom the and for the use or abuse of which they will hereafter gift of exquisite musical talent has been entrusted, have to render their solemn account, should be encouraged to improve and consecrate it to the service of our common Lord and Saviour, than that they should be thus compelled to hide it in a napkin, or bury it in the earth of cold neglect! But it were absolutely preposterous to suppose that, in this advancing age, the elegant refinements of scientific music either can be or ought to be blotted out from the number of pursuits and occupations of civilized man. The church may reject them, but the great adversary of the church is ever ready to avail himself of them, and convert them into engines of destruction. Whose then will be the responsibility if immortal souls are wiled to perdition by those very means which the church had at command, but supinely refused to put in requisition? So much for the common sense view of the matter. Now, if for a moment we turn to the argument from analogy, we shall find much to support the view opposite. That singing is a Christian duty is conceded pretty well upon all hands. But so also is praying. It will not be pretended that the latter is not fully as binding upon every member of the church as the former; neither will any sane man presume to assert that the one is not as imperative a congregational duty as the other. Let us inquire then how the duty of pubiic prayer is performed. here taken, and little indeed to countenance the In those religious communities which employ a liturgy, or form, we shall find three modes of public prayer. There are prayers audibly pronounced by the clergyman alone, others repeated by the people, and a third kind in which both clergyman and people unite. And this is analogous to what it is humbly apprehended is the proper and -legitimate application of church music, according to which a congregation would sometimes be edified by the exhibition of the consecrated skill of some tasteful singer him and them in rapturous ascriptions of praise to the or well-trained choir, and at other times unite with which, and in which alone, all could join. In the Triune God, adapted to a plain and simple tune, in English cathedral service, as also in that of the Roman catholics, the clergyman or priest occasionally chaunts by himself, and in many instances most effective choirs are kept up for the performance of the that good psalmody or congregational singing are [is] daily music of the church: but it must be confessed rarely to be met with in the church of England; and if any at all is to be heard-of which I am in some doubt-in the Roman catholic church, it must be attributed to the influence of protestant example. The days are gone by wherein the thrilling sound |