THE HOLY WAR.

(From S. Bernard.)

BETWEEN Jerusalem and Babylon there is perpetual warfare. Each city has its king. CHRIST the LORD is King of Jerusa lem, and He delights to reign in righteousness. Satan is king of Babylon, and reigns in iniquity, and by the seducing arts of his ministers, draws away as many of the citizens of Jerusalem to his own city as he can, that he may make them "servants to iniquity unto iniquity." When, therefore, the sentinel upon the walls of Jerusalem saw one of the citizens made prisoner, he reported to the king that the enemy were carrying their prev captive to Babylon. The King of Jerusalem then called to Him the spirit of Fear, (a soldier well fitted for such service) and said, 66 Go, rescue the prey." Fear, always ready to obey, swiftly followed the enemies, and suddenly he thundered upon them, and at the voice of his power the enemy trembled, and were put to flight. Fear did not follow them, but returned home with his rescued fellow-citizen.

There was, however, one of the hostile party called the spirit of Sadness, who was not with them when Fear came upon them; and when he saw his companions flying, he came forth quickly from the ambush where he had been lurking. They said to him, "Fear alone has done this, and it is a disgrace to us all." Sadness replied, "Be not afraid of him; I know what to do. I will go and be a lying spirit by the wayside, and will pretend that I am a friend of Fear. I know the man; he must be dealt with by fraud, and not by force. Do you stay and await the result."

He then started off, and making a short cut, got before Fear, and having turned back along the road so as to meet him, he entered into friendly but deceitful discourse, and began to seduce him. Fear, suspecting nothing, followed him without hesitation, and was very near being led into the pit of despair. One, however, who saw it, gave notice to the King of what was going forward, and He commanded Hope to be called, and ordered him to take the horse of Desire, and the sword of Gladness, and hasten to the assistance of Fear. The faithful soldier went forth as he was commanded, and on coming to the place he flourished his sword and put the evil spirit to flight. Then taking his liberated fellow-citizen, he put him on the horse of Desire, and going before, he drew him forward with the cord of Promise. Fear likewise followed, urging him on with a Scourge made of his sins. This free horse, being thus both

drawn and driven, went forward with dangerous speed. On seeing this, the soldiers of Babylon held a council and said, "Why do we suffer him to escape whom we thought we held so securely? how is the triumph of Hell turned into mourning, and by means of only two soldiers there is joy in Heaven over a rescued fellow-citizen? how have the crafts of Satan lost their power?"

But one of them, more wicked than the rest, and the contriver of this mischief, gave his iniquitous counsel, saying, "Ye know nothing at all, neither consider that it will now be more easy to take him; and if he is taken, more difficult to rescue him. Do you follow at a distance; I will transform myself into an angel of light, that under pretence of teaching them, I may deceive those who are strangers and sojourners, and ignorant of the way." This plan having been agreed to, he went forth to his evil work. The sentinel announced to the King that there came a man on the horse of Desire, riding with dangerous speed, and having neither saddle nor bridle. "The enemies," said he, "follow at a distance; others are making short cuts; but I see one on whom our armour shines, though assuredly he went not out from us. We must send some one to ask, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries ?"

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Then the King, ever watchful for souls, sent forth prudence and Temperance; the latter placed the bridle of Discretion on the horse, and persuaded Hope to proceed more moderately. Prudence also, rebuking Fear for his misconduct, bade him be wiser for the future, and placed the saddle of Circumspection on the horse, that his rider might have a secure seat. Behind him was placed the confession of past sins; before him the expectation of judgment; on the left hand he was supported by Patience, and on the right hand by Humility. Hope and Fear gave him spurs. Hope placed on his right foot the expectation of reward; Fear on his left the dread of punishment.

The enemy, having waited until evening, again assembled to attack them. Fear trembled, Hope hurried on; but at length (though with some difficulty) Prudence and Temperance, recalled them to reason. "You see," said they," that the day is far spent, and night is coming on, and he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. Besides, you have a long way yet to go, and the multitude of your enemies is great. There is, however, a most faithful soldier of our King, with whom I am acquainted, and whose castle is not far off. It is a place of great strength, for he has made his nest in the rock. Let us, if it please you, turn aside to him, for it is good to be there."

When all the party had signified their approval, and were

inquiring for a guide, Prudence said, "My armour-bearer, Wisdom, shall go before us, for he knows the way, and is known to Righteousness, for he is his kinsman."

Wisdom went at their head, and having saluted Righteousness, he announced the approach of guests. Righteousness asked who they were, and on hearing whence and wherefore they came, he rose up with a cheerful countenance, and went forth to meet the fugitives with bread; and taking the rescued captive down from the horse, he placed him in the inner apartment of his castle.

The hostile army followed, and besieging the castle, sought everywhere for some place of entrance. But finding it well fortified on every side, they pitched their tents, and appointed a watch, that no one might go in or out until the morning should enable them to set up their machines for an assault.

In the meantime, Fear, (who never knew what it was to feel secure,) full of alarm and anxiety, awoke his companions; and calling for Righteousness, he made many inquiries about the fortifications of the place, and the means of defence; suggesting at the same time that there might be a scarcity of provisions. To all this Righteousness replied, "This place, as you may see, is rocky and inaccessible, and we have nothing to fear either from the arms or the machines of the enemy. But the place is barren, and scarcely able to support its inhabitants upon barley bread; and at the present time we have but five barley loaves and two fishes."

"And what," said Fear, "are they among so many?" And then he began to be more alarmed than ever, and blamed the rescued captive for alighting from his horse, and kept saying to him, "The last end of that man shall be worse than the first, for that swift horse flew straight to the city; but now you have no guide but Wisdom. You will soon see whether you are not now worse off than before."

Fear was on the point of rising against Hope, whose opinion was quite contrary; but Temperance called for Prudence, who when he came rebuked the misconduct of Fear, saying, "Let your sword be drawn against your enemies. Do you not know that our king is the King of Power, strong and mighty,-the King mighty in battle? Let a messenger be sent to make known to Him the distress of His subjects, to ask His assistance, and bring us help." "And who," replied Fear, "can go? for darkness covers the earth, and a host of watchful enemies keep guard around the walls; and we are strangers in a far country, who know not the way." They then called their host, and said to him, "Help us, if thou canst." "Be of good cheer," replied he, "for I have a messenger who is most faithful to the King, VOL. VII.

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and well known at His court: his name is Prayer. He can silently make his way into the secret places of Jerusalem by unknown paths. He is able to penetrate even the Presence chamber of the King, and is wont to obtain, by his moving supplication, help for those who are in distress. Let him now go, for he is ready." All expressed a wish that he should go forthwith. Prudence then instructed him what to say to the King. Righteousness charged him to be faithful, and not to return empty; and the rest (especially Fear) urged him to make all possible speed; and they sent him out by a private way through the walls. He passed safely through the enemy's troops, and in the twinkling of an eye arrived at the gates of Jerusalem. Finding the gates shut, he knocked unceasingly, and cried out to the keepers, "Open to me the gates of Righteousness, that I may enter in, and confess unto my LORD our King the multitude of the sorrows which are in my heart. Righteousness hath sent me, that I may see the King, to Whom I bear secret tidings."

The King, knowing him to be a messenger from Righteousness, ordered him to be admitted. Prayer being admitted to the Royal Presence, made obeisance and said, "O King, live for ever!" The King asked him, "Is all well with thy master, and with his house?" "By Thy grace all is well," answered Prayer, "but one thing is needful. Thy servant, who hath been delivered from the horns of the unicorn, hath come to Thy soldier, my master; and, my LORD, that land is barren, and without food. Let my LORD give His blessing, and our land shall yield her increase. Behold the enemies are gathered in great numbers, that they may fight against us: give us help, LORD, in trouble, for there is none other that fighteth for us, but only Thou, O GOD!"

The King, Who is good and full of compassion, moved by his entreaties, exclaimed, "Whom shall we send?" Then said Charity, "Here am I, LORD, send me!" The King asked him who were his companions; Charity answered that his own family would be sufficient. He went forth, therefore, attended by his noble company,-Joy, Peace, Patience, Long-suffering, Gentleness, Goodness, Meekness. Charity, thus attended, marched forward, confident of victory; and having raised his triumphant standard, he passed the first and second watch of the enemy, and reached the gate, which opened to him of its own accord. On entering the castle there was a great rejoicing, and the shouts of the people reached the camp of the besiegers; and they said one to another, "What is this? The voice of triumph has reached our ears from the camp of Israel! Peradventure, help hath come unto them, and they will make a sally upon us. Let us

fly from the face of Israel, for the LORD fighteth for them against us." In the meantime, Charity, impatient of delay, ordered the army to be drawn up to attack the enemy, declaring, "I will go forth against the gates of Hell." The gates were then thrown open, and the whole force of Charity rushed out with a sudden impulse. The Babylonians, unable to resist, attempted in vain to fly; and Fear slew his thousands, and Charity his tens of thousands.

MOSQUES.

I SHALL venture upon an extract or two descriptive of our visit to the three principal mosques in Constantinople, into which a few years ago it was a rare event for any European to enter, though now a common one enough. We had for several days passed by these really beautiful buildings with much longing to see the interior; the utmost of which we could obtain a glimpse being a few glass lamps containing oil, with little tapers swimming in them; a figure or two, seated cross-legged upon matting apparently very clean, but no more. To our great delight, as we were conning over the expenses of a firman, the news spread over the different inns that a firman was granted, and that the mosques would be open some time the next morning. The Aia-Sophia being the principal mosque, we accordingly made it our rendezvous at the early hour of six, that we might not run the least risk of being too late; and were rewarded by the pleasure of studying the habits of the passing and loitering population for four hours and a half, during which each of us for the first time made use of the sheesha or water-pipe, and found it a rather cumbrous method of smoking. At last, there were symptoms of a bustle; and the party seemed to be busy buying slippers. Some acknowledgment of the sanctity of the mosque was most justly required from us, in the manners customary with them, viz., the taking off our shoes; but a Frank dress hardly permitting this, the substitute of covering them with the inner leather slipper was allowed instead. This custom of acknowledging the house and temple of GOD, by putting off the shoe, is one from early times. Moses and Joshua were commanded, "Put off thy shoes from off thy feet; for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground." It is the invariable practice among eastern religions.

We entered S. Sophia, and found ourselves within a large, spacious dome, from whence were suspended innumerable lights, or rather glasses for oil, not unlike those used in Europe for the bedrooms of invalids and nervous people, as a protection against the terrors of darkness. I cannot give you a full description: I