the king's garrison at Newark." Upon these terms Dr. Sanderson obtained his release from prison, and though in many respects the change was disadvantageous, yet it proved of benefit to the Doctor, inasmuch as his living having been sequestrated from the year 1644, he by the articles of war, in this exchange with Mr. Clarke, procured the removal of the sequestration, and thus enjoyed a poor subsistence for himself, wife, and children.

Thus living in seclusion, and devoting himself to the duties of his office, the fame of his sound judgment, and deep learning, and sincerity went abroad. Many far and near sought from him a solution of their difficulties, and he was applied to in various perplexed cases of conscience: so many were these applications that his life became almost as "restless as their minds; yet as S. Paul accounted himself a debtor unto all men, so he, for he denied none." And if it be a truth which holy Herbert says, that all worldly joys seem less when compared with showing mercies, and doing kindnesses; "then doubtless this Barnabas, this son of consolation, Dr. Sanderson, might have boasted of relieving so many restless and wounded consciences. Over these he might indeed rejoice, and thank God for the ability and the will to do it to the meanest of any of those poor but precious souls, for which his SAVIOUR Vouchsafed to be crucified."

W. B. F.

HEBREW CUSTOMS.

FUNERAL RITES.

THE care of the dead has been attended to by all nations; some evincing their love and reverence in one way, and others in another. In this the ancient Hebrews were especially particular. When the eyes had been closed, and the body washed, the corpse was then embalmed; the most costly spices and aromatic drugs being laid around it. To this custom allusion is made in the proverb, “A good name is better than precious ointment;" by which we are taught, as Tillotson has observed, "that a good name will preserve men's memories, and be of far greater service than the ointments which preserve the body from corruption." They then swathed the corpse in linen rolls or bandages, closely enfolding and enwrapping it in that bed of aromatic drugs with which they had surrounded it. So Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus took the body of JESUS, and wrapped it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury (S. John xix. 40.) Thus, when our LORD had cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth," it is said—the dead came forth, bound hand and foot, in grave-clothes. The modes by which people formerly showed their grief were of a most extravagant character. They used to shave, or pluck their

beards; to rend their garments, and to maim their bodies; as we learn from Jeremiah xvi. 6, 7.- "Both the great and the small shall die in this land: they shall not be buried, neither shall men lament for them, nor cut themselves, nor make themselves bald for them. Neither shall men tear themselves for them in mourning, to comfort them for the dead; neither shall men give them the cup of consolation to drink for their father or their mother." This custom in part still remains. We are informed by a modern writer that "One formality in mourning for the dead among the Naudowessies, is very different from any mode I ever observed in the other nations through which I passed. The men, to show how great their sorrow is, pierce the flesh of their arms, above the elbows, with arrows, the scars of which I could perceive on those of every rank in a greater or a less degree; and the women cut and gash their legs with sharp broken flints, till the blood flows very plentifully." The cries and shrieks which rent the air on the departure of any one could be heard to a very great distance. They mourned with a great and very sore lamentation. "This," says Chardin, quoted by Burder," is exactly the genius of the people of Asia, especially the women. Their sentiments of joy or grief are properly transports, and their transports are ungoverned, excessive, and outrageous. When any one returns from a long journey, or dies, his family burst into cries that may be heard twenty doors off; and this is renewed at different times, and continues many days, according to the vigour of the passion. Especially are these cries long in the case of death. . . . I was lodged, in 1676, at Ispahan, near the royal square; the mistress at the next house to mine died at that time; the moment she expired, all the family, to the number of twenty-five or thirty people, set up such a furious cry, that I was quite startled, and was above two hours before I could recover myself. These cries continue a long time; then cease all at once; they begin again as suddenly at day-break, and in concert. It is this suddenness which is so terrifying, together with a greater shrillness and loudness than one would easily imagine. This enraged kind of mourning continued for forty days, not equally violent, but with diminution from day to day. The longest and most violent acts were when they washed the body, when they perfumed it, when they carried it out to be interred, at making the inventory, and when they divided the effects." It was, moreover, customary to have hired mourners, who made lamentation, and mourning, and woe. Allusion is made to this custom in the following passage, as also in many others: "Thus saith the LORD: consider ye, and call for the mourning women that they may come, and send for the cunning women that they may come." Jeremiah ix. 17. In Our SAVIOUR'S times others were also added, who played sad strains

* Carver.

on musical instruments; as at the death of Jairus's daughter (S. Matthew, ix. 23.) Allusion is also made to this custom in the words-"We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not wept."

How different the calm and settled grief of the faithful Christian, who weeps indeed, but not as those without hope; who looks forwards to the resurrection of the just, when parent and child, husband and wife, will again be united in that land, where no partings will ever come.

F.

HARVEST THOUGHTS.

To witness the

THE season of harvest is the season of joy. spreading plain and the sheltered valley, yellow with waving corn; to gaze on the fields around us, about to yield a return to the labours of the husbandman, and to crown his hopes with an abundant produce; to hear the cheerful shout of harvest home; to meet in the still hour of evening that band, whose province it is to "gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing be lost," returning home laden with the gleanings of the day-these are images of peace, and tranquillity, and happiness, on which we cannot but dwell with feelings of satisfaction.

Nor should the season of harvest be the season of joy only. It should also be the season of gratitude. When God restored the world after the flood, He entered into covenant with Noah, and through him with all mankind. By this covenant GoD promised that He would no more curse the ground for man's sake; but that while the earth remained, seed-time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, should not cease. And every returning season in the fruits of the earth, is a fresh fulfilment of the promise, and affords additional evidence of JEHOVAH'S unchanging faithfulness, and perpetual mindfulness of His cove

nant.

We are at this time receiving the gifts, experiencing the mercies, and witnessing the faithfulness of our Almighty Benefactor. Those amongst us, who fear the LORD in sincerity and truth, will not be unmindful of our duty at the present season, nor withhold from Him our hearty tribute of grateful praise. Whether the present harvest be more or less productive than some of its predecessors; whether the crops be more or less abundant than those we can remember in former years, or the weather more propitious or unpropitious than usual at this anxious season, are points on which we need not at present dwell. Our object is to teach a lesson of thankfulness; our aim is to impress the heart, so that each one of

us may exclaim, "Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name."

Common mercies are apt to be overlooked by us from the very circumstance that they are common, and the gifts of the harvest are too often received with indifference and unthankfulness from their regular and stated occurrence. We gather them and enjoy them, as if "the might of our hand had gotten us this wealth.” We call them our own, and forget the bounteous Donor from Whom they freely flow; and hence, instead of being contented with the portion allotted to us, and thankful for it, we too often repine in our hearts, and murmur with our lips, when our souls ought to overflow with gratitude, and our tongues with praise.

For this state of feeling there is, as far as we know, but one corrective; and that is, to contrast GoD's blessings with our deserts; to compare how much He has given with how little we have deserved. How abundant are His gifts! How manifold are our transgressions! Has the LORD of life and glory ever dealt with us after our sins? Has He rewarded us after our iniquities?

We have always been a favoured nation. If ever a people could say "the LORD has been our defence and our shield;" if ever a people could say "GOD is on our side, we will not fear what man can do unto us;" we are that people. But why has GOD thus favoured us, thus supported, thus protected us? As warlike England? As commercial England? As wealthy England? No: but as Christian England; as a nation distinguished for her efforts to civilize and evangelize the world; as a nation that freely circulates the word of God; that sends forth through the medium of that one great society the Church, her missionaries, -her missionary priests, her missionary bishops, to convert and emancipate those who groan in a bondage, and are enchained by a slavery, of all others the most afflicting and the most oppressive -the slavery of ignorance, and the bondage of sin.

National religion is the foundation of national prosperity. A pious people cannot fail to be a prosperous people. And as the ALMIGHTY does hate and punish sin, in the case of individuals, so does He also in that of nations. Why did GoD spare Nineveh, after He had denounced its total overthrow? Because the Ninevites one and all, from the least even unto the greatest, repented in sackcloth and ashes of their sins, cried mightily unto the LORD, and turned them from their evil ways.

Upon what plea did Abraham intercede 'for guilty Sodom? That of the faith and truth of some of its inhabitants! And that plea was one which God recognised and allowed. "Peradventure there be ten righteous found there?" "I will not destroy it for ten's sake." Cherish then good men. View those who love, and serve and obey GOD, as the best bulwarks of the state. For wher

ever a man is active and earnest, and alive in his Christian profession, dares openly to serve GOD, and is neither afraid nor ashamed to stand up avowedly for the interests of His cause, and the honour of His name; in the selfsame degree is that man contributing to the stability and the prosperity, and the security of his country. Hear the words of Solomon: "Righteousness exalteth a nation; but sin is a reproach to any people."

Be this, then, the first of our duties, nationally and individually, as men and as Christians, that we welcome the season of harvest with gratitude; that we bless GOD for His goodness, for His patience, for His beneficence, for His forbearance; that the language of the lip and the language of the heart be the same, and that language be this, "Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits." Above all, showing our gratitude by our lives, we should evince it also in our actions, and make His altars fat with the offerings of devotion and love that we place upon them.

more.

But besides being a season of joy and of gratitude, it should be The season of harvest ought to be a season of reflection. In a religious and contemplative mind, harvest will always be connected by certain associations, with an event the most solemn, the most important, that can befal an immortal being; the general judgment. It is scarcely possible, as we turn over the pages of the Bible, to avoid being startled by the constant references made to it, under the similitude of harvest, and by the manner in which as such it is figured out to our comprehension.

The parable of the tares aptly displays to us the confused manner in which, in this important state of being, the good are blended with the bad; the formal hypocrite with the sincere Christian, the wanton scoffer with the convinced believer in CHRIST. IS this jarring and disjointed state of things to last for ever? No. "Let both," says the LORD of the harvest, "grow together until the harvest, and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat into My barn."

The same metaphor is found in S. Mark. There, in reference to the kingdom of GOD, we find the SAVIOUR saying to His disciples, that "when the fruit is brought forth He (GOD) putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come."

The same solemn idea presents itself in Revelation xiv. 15, where, in reference to the final day of reckoning, we find this command given to the destroying angel; "Thrust in thy sickle and reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe." But what is still more to our purpose, in the Gospel of S. Matthew xiii. 39, the metaphor is still more clearly and fully developed. We have there the SAVIOUR Himself expounding a parable to His disciples; and in the course of that exposition, declaring that "the harvest is the end of the world, and the reapers are the angels."