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ORIGIN OF THE WORD LADY. FORMERLY, when the affluent lived all the year round at their mansions in the country, the lady of the manor distributed to her poor neighbours, with her own hands, once a week or oftener, a certain quantity of bread, and she was called by them the Leff day, that is in the Saxon, the bread giver. These two words were in time corrupted, and the meaning is as little known as the practice which gave rise to it; yet it is from that hospitable custom that, to this day, the ladies of Great Britain alone serve meat at their own table.

ADMONITION TO WRITERS OF EPITAPHS.
THE following lines were written under the words
Domus Ultima,-The Last House-inscribed on the
duke of Richmond's tomb, at Chichester :-

"Did he, whose hand inscribed this wall,
Ne'er read, or not believe St. Paul?
Who says there is, where'er it stands,
Another house, not made with hands.
Or must we gather from these words,
That house is not a House of Lords ?"

ADMONITION OF A SCOTTISH PASTOR IN LONDON.

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Of the late venerable Dr. Waugh, his biographer records that, in his ministerial visitations, his nationality was often strongly displayed, and this with most beneficial effect, both in sentiment and language. When, without any adequate cause, any of his hearers had failed to attend public ordinances so regularly as he could have wished, and would plead their distance from the chapel as an excuse, he would exclaim, in the emphatic northern dialect, which he used on familiar occasions to employ"What, you from Scotland! from Melrose, from Gala Water! from Selkirk! and it's a hard matter to walk a mile or two to serve your Maker one day in the week! How many miles did you walk at Selkirk ?" Five." 66 Five! and can ye no walk twa here? Man! your father walked ten or twall (twelve) out, and as many hame every Sunday i' the year; and your mither too, aften. I've seen a hunder folk and mair, that aye walked six or seven, men, women, and bairns too; and at the sacraments folk walked fifteen, and some twenty miles. How far will you walk the morn to mak half-a-crown? Fie! Fie! But ye'll be out wi' a' your household next Sabbath, I ken. O, my man, mind the bairns! If you love their souls, dinna let them get into the habit of biding awa fra the kirk. All the evils among young folk in London arise from their not attending God's house." Such remonstrances, it may easily be imagined, were not often urged in vain.

“WHY, PA—WHO LEARNT YOU TO

PRAY?"

I KNOW a little boy, between three and four years of age, whose father experienced religion last winter. He no sooner became a good man than he thought he ought to pray with his family. He took the Bible in his hand, and after reading a few verses in a very feeling manner, bowed down before God, and offered a most fervent prayer. It was something new to all the family. But his little boy, who a year ago tenderly inquired, "Can't you pray, pa, grandpa does," came, full of feeling, and said, Why, pa, who learnt you to pray, pa? I did'nt know you could

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pray. I knew grandpa could. If I'd known you could pray, I should have asked you to pray for me when I have been a naughty boy." The father wept, but he could now tell his child who taught him to come to the throne of grace, and now he can direct his beloved children to that Saviour whom he loves, and with whom he hopes to dwell when his work on earth is finished.

LEAVE YOUR "LITTLE SELF" AT HOME.

A CELEBRATED English preacher, now deceased, in a charge which he delivered to a young minister at his ordination, thus addressed him; "Let me remind you, Sir, that, when you come to this place, and address this people, you are not to bring your little self with you. I repeat this again, Sir, that it may more deeply impress your memory; I say that you are never to bring your little self with you. No, Sir, when you stand in this sacred place, it is your duty to hold up your great Master to your people, in his character, in his offices, in his precepts, in his promises, and in his glory. This picture you are to hold up to the view of your hearers, while you are to stand behind it, and not let so much as your little finger be seen."

VIRTUE.

THE vigour which virtue gives the mind, and the weight which it adds to character; the generous sentiments which it inspires; the ardour of diligence which it quickens; the freedom which it procures from pernicious and dishonourable avocations, are the foundations of all that is highly honourable or greatly successful among men.

A considerable number of coins have lately been discovered in a defile of Mount Taurus. They are of the epoch of the crusades, which circumstance would imply that they were buried in that spot by the French, in order to conceal them from the Sara

cens.

REVIEW.

The Heavens. By ROBERT MUDIE, Author of “A Guide to the Observation of Nature," &c. &c. 12mo. cloth, pp. 276. London: Ward and Co. MR. MUDIE states in his preface, "This work has no pretensions whatever to be a system of technical astronomy." It is, nevertheless, the production of a scientific and cultivated mind; and while it gives a correct view of the "heavens," which, as the inspired Psalmist proclaims, "declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handy work;" is written in an attractive style, embued with a spirit of truly scriptural piety.

Mr. Mudie's style and spirit may be judged by the following paragraph relating to " Celestial Influences."

"All those mighty influences have also this advantage, that when once we know the law according to which they act, we can calculate the succession for any length of time; and, while at ease in our chamber at one point of the earth's surface, we can say with certainty, what effect those celestial influences are producing throughout its whole extent; and thus the heavens become, in the strictest sense

of the word, the keys to the knowledge of universal

nature.

"The moral here is so obvious, so striking, and so instructive, that we need hardly pause to point it out; but as the material earth would be abandoned to an unbroken eternity of lifelessness, if it were deprived of the genial influence of the material sun,and even if that sun were to suspend its influence for one day or for one moment, the system of life and of beauty in the earth would be deranged and lost without recovery, so, in the intellectual world, if He who set in the heavens a tabernacle for the sun,' were to abandon the human mind to itself, that abandonment would be mental or spiritual death of the most fearful description,-were He to hide his face but for a moment, man would be utterly lost; for man can be safe only in the free grace of his bountiful God." (P. 42).

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power.

MAY He who rules the boundless whole,
Instruct my mind, enlarge my soul,
And teach to shape the trackless course
O'er distant seas, through current's force.
In night's dark gloom and tempest's howl,
With steady courage arm my soul,
Not deaf to danger, but resign'd
Whate'er his will, in hope to find
A helper in that solemn hour,
When death o'er tars usurps
Should sudden squalls our bark assail,
And spring a mast, or split a sail,
May thy kind hand direct me still,
To act my part and do thy will!
If launch'd o'erboard in stormy day,
Thy goodness still to me display
As on the briny wave I float,
To gain some friendly spar or boat.
Should lab'ring pumps employ our care,
Far, far from me O keep despair!
But should thy wisdom so decree,
That we our bark no more should free,
As down with her I sink below,
A better world my spirit show.

BY ALIQUIS, A NAVAL LIEUTENANT.

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ADAM, WHERE ART THOU ?
BY THOMAS RAGG.

Adam, where art thou? monarch, where?
It is thy Maker calls;

What means that look of wild despair?
What anguish now enthralls?
Why, in the wood's embowering shade,
Dost thou attempt to hide,

From him whose hand thy kingdom made,
And all thy wants supplied?
Go hide again, thou fallen one!

The crown has left thy brow;
Thy robe of purity is gone,

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And thou art naked now.

Adam, where art thou? monarch, where?
Assert thy high command;

Call forth the tiger from his lair,
To lick thy kingly hand;
Control the air, control the earth,
Control the foaming sea;
They own no more thy heavenly birth,
Or heaven-stamp'd royalty.
The brutes no longer will caress,

But share with thee thy reign;
For the sceptre of thy righteousness,
Thy hands have snapped in twain.
"Adam, where art thou? monarch, where?
Thou wondrous thing of clay;
Ah! let the earth-worm now declare,
Who claims thee as his prey.
Thy mother, oh thou mighty one,

For thee re-opes her womb;
Thou to the narrow house art gone,

Thy kingdom is thy tomb.
The truth from Godhead's lips that came,
There in thy darkness learn:

Of dust was formed thy beauteous frame,
And shall to dust return.

"Adam, where art thou? where! ah where? Behold him raised above,

An everlasting life to share,

In the bright world of love.
The hand he once 'gainst heaven could raise,
Another sceptre holds;

His brows where new-born glories blaze,
Another crown enfolds.

Another robe 's flung over him,

More fair than was his own; And with the fire-tongued seraphim, He dwells before the throne.

"But whence could such a change proceed?
What power could raise him there?

So late by God's own voice decreed
Transgression's curse to bear.
Hark! hark! he tells-a harp well strung
His grateful arms embrace :
Salvation is his deathless song,

And grace, abounding grace;

And sounds through all the upper sky
A strain with wonders rife,
That Life hath given itself to die,
To bring death back to life."

London: Printed and Published by JAMES S. HODSON, at 22. Poppin's Court, Fleet Street; where all communications for the Editor (post paid) are to be addressed; sold also by Simpkin, Mar shall, and Co., and by all other Booksellers, Newsvenders, &c. in the Kingdom.

The trade may be supplied in London, by STEILL, Paternoster Row: BERGER, Holywell Street, Strand; in Manchester, by Ellerby She field, Innocent; Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Finlay and Charlton.

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CORRUPTION OF CHRISTIANITY OCCASIONED THE MAHOMETAN IMPOSTURE. GIBBON, the historian, though an enemy to the peculiar doctrines and the holy claims of Christianity, has justly declared of the great Arabian impostor, that "the faith which, under the name of Islam, he preached to his family and nation, is compounded of an ETERNAL TRUTH, and a necessary fiction, THAT THERE IS ONLY ONE GOD, AND THAT MAHOMET IS THE APOSTLE OF GOD."

Mahometanism could not have been introduced with success, even in Arabia, had it not been for the deplorable and general corruption of Christianity.

VOL. V.

The assumption of a priestly character by the Christian pastors-the substitution of ceremonies to attract the Jews and idolators, in the room of the reading of the Scriptures, prayer, and preaching the gospel-the creation of a hierarchy with various ranks of the priesthood in Christianity-and the consequent ambition, wealth, and worldliness of ministers-rendered religion, under the name of Christian, abhorred by the people. The history and progress of that corruption need not here be minutely detailed, as it has been done so fully in the pages of the Christian's Penny Magazine, in the "YOUNG CHRISTIAN'S PROTESTANT MEMORIAL FOR THE COMMEMORATION OF THE THIRD CENTENARY OF

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THE REFORMATION." But in confirmation of the statements contained in that detail, we give the following paragraph from the celebrated treatise of Grotius, "ON THE TRUTH OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION."

“Instead of a preface to the sixth book, which is designed against the Mahometans, it relates the judgments of God against the Christians, down_to the original of Mahometanism; namely, how that sincere and unfeigned piety, which flourished amongst the Christians, who were most grievously afflicted and tormented, began by degrees to abate; after Constantine and the following emperors had made the profession of the Christian religion not only safe, but honourable; but having, as it were, thrust the world into the church, first, the Christian princes waged war without measure, even when they might have enjoyed peace. The bishops quarrelled with each other most bitterly about the highest places; and, as of old, the preferring the tree of knowledge to the tree of life, was the occasion of the greatest evils; so the nice inquiries were esteemed more than piety, and religion was made an art. The consequence of which was, that, after the example of them who built the tower of Babel, their rashly affecting matters, produced different languages and confusion among them; which the common people taking notice of, many times not knowing which way to turn themselves, cast all the blame upon the sacred writings, and began to avoid them as if they were infected. And religion began every where to be placed, not in purity of mind but in rites, as if Judaism were brought back again; and in those things, which contained in them more of bodily exercise, than improvement of the mind; and also in a violent adhering to the party they had chosen ; the final event of which was, that there was every where a great many Christians in name, but very few in reality. God did not overlook these faults of his people; but from the farthest corners of Scythia and Germany, poured vast armies, like a deluge, upon the Christian world: and, when the great slaughter made by these, did not suffice to reform those which remained, by the just permission of God, Mahomet planted in Arabia a new religion, directly opposite to the Christian religion; yet such as did in a good measure express in words, the life of a great portion of the [corrupt] Christians."

Dr. Robinson, speaking of the extent to which there is a profession made of the religion of the false prophet, states, "Mahometanism exceeds Christianity in extent of territory, and is little short of the latter in the number of its professors. The Mahometan religion is established in, or prevails throughout, the Turkish dominions in Europe, Asia, and Africa; viz. Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Canadia, Cyprus, Natolia, Syria, part of Armenia, Egypt, &c.; the Barbary States, viz. Morocco, Algiers, Tunis, Tripoli, Fez, &c. ; Africa Interior, viz. Fezezan, Tombuctoo, Kassina, Bornou, Darfoor, Nubia, &c.; the eastern coast of Africa, and the island of Madagascar, viz. Adel, Zanguebar, Mozambique, Sofala, &c.; Arabia, the Persian States, viz. Persia, Korasan, and part of Armenia: the Russian States of Little Tartary, Astrakan, Kazan, Kirghis, Kazaks, Kolhyvane, &c.; the Independent Tartars, viz. those of Turkestan, Bucharia, Balk, Karasm, the Usbecs, &c.; Hindostan, the eastern islands of Malaya, Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Celebes, Mindaneo, Luzon, &c. It has likewise made many proselytes in various other countries, as in China, &c. The number of

* See Part XLI. of this Magazine, for Oct. 1835; that Memorial has been published in an 18mo volume, price 1s.

those professing the Mahometan religion has been calculate to amount to about 149,000,000."

Mahometanism, however, is rapidly declining through the progress of knowledge, especially by the diffusion of the Holy Scriptures, and by their blessed means, the true light of saving doctrines of creation, redemption, and eternal salvation.

Dr. Wilson, the present bishop of Calcutta, has eloquently stated the cause of divine truth and the progress of Christian knowledge by the Scriptures, in a recent letter to the Rev. A. Brandram, one of the secretaries of the British and Foreign Bible Society; and as Mahometanism with its prospects is referred to, an extract will be appropriate here. He says, "The Bible is made for man, as much as the eternal world of nature: it suits his moral condition; it awakens and gratifies his attention; it comes down to his feelings and wants. The light of the sun is not more adapted to the eye of man, than the Scriptures are adapted to his inward conscience and heart. The manner, also, in which truth is conveyed in the inspired volume is universally suited for man- for childhood, for youth, for manhood, for age. The matter and manner equally speak a divine original. But India is more especially at home in the Bible. It is an Oriental volume: its allusions, its images, its habits, its historical vestiges, its national customs, are in a large degree Asiatic: and can be most easily understood in the countries nearest to those where it was first written.

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Accounts are now coming in from all quarters of a readiness to receive the sacred volume; which crowds together masses of inquirers and of supplicants at all the principal festivals and annual celebrations, and scarcely allows the missionary to depart without allaying their eagerness.

"All this coincides with the decayed power of the Hindoo and Mohammedan religions upon the minds of men. But I retract the word 'religions:' the impostures palmed, under that sacred name, upon a fallen world deserve not the elevation they thus assume. Neither Hindooism nor Mahometanism merits the name of religion.' The sort of metaphysical compact between atheism and the grossest and most polluting mythology of the first; and the fierce corruption of the Jewish and Christian revelations, which are the pretended foundation of the second; these are not religions. The one is the faint vestige of original revelation, wandering about for light, without a single holy principle to direct it; and the other, the mere plunder of Christianity, poured at the feet of a false prophet and adven

turer."

These preliminary observations are intended as introductory to a series of five papers, furnished by an intelligent correspondent on the subject of Mahometanism; and which will be given to our readers in successive numbers of this Magazine,

DOMESTIC WORSHIP IN SCOTLAND.

IN the interesting life of the late Dr. Waugh it is related, that it was the regular practice of the Scotch husbandmen, in olden times, to assemble the whole household, for family worship, in the hall or kitchen; in the morning before breakfast, and in the evening before supper. The good man, of course, led their devotions, every one having the Bible in his hand. This was the stated course, even in seed time and harvest; between five and six in the morning was the time for prayer, in these busy seasons. Of the impression made upon his young heart, by these domestic services, and by other congenial scenes of domestic

piety, Dr. Waugh would often talk, in his own family, with tears in his eyes; and to the purifying and soul-ennobling influence of such scenes, not a little of the simplicity, tenderness, and moral elevation of his own character, may be justly traced.

ON THE INEFFICACY OF MIRACLES TO PRODUCE A CHANGE OF HEART.

No. II.-ON CHANGE OF HEART.

THE present moral and spiritual condition of mankind, when compared with the descriptions which the Bible gives of the character that will ultimately be received into the kingdom of heaven, and also with the declaration of the Redeemer, that except a man be born again, he cannot see that glorious habitation, is quite sufficient to awaken the most serious investigation as to the means by which those who are at present in the paths of sin, may be led into those of piety and religion. My design will not require me to make any very extensive inquiries into this important topic, as I have only to give such a description of the meaning of the words, as will keep us from misunderstanding the future remarks that are to be brought forward.

There are several phrases in the Scriptures which are universally understood to apply to this change of heart, among which we may mention "new creation," "regeneration," ""resurrection from the death of sin ;" and I am sure our readers will not suspect me of an attempt to undervalue the greatness of the alteration which they express, if I request them to bear in mind that the greater number of these phrases were applicable to, and derived their most striking illustration from the incalculable, and to us inconceivable alteration which was effected, when the splendid but heartless ceremonies of Jews and Pagans, were changed for the pure and simple worship of the Church of God. Yet it must ever be maintained that the real and actual moral change, which is effected in the case of every individual Christian in our day, is precisely as great as it was at first, although the apparent alteration and effect of conversion, may be in no respect of so stupendous magnitude or striking solemnity.

Conversion is the turning of the renewed heart towards God and duty. It is simply the giving of new direction to them. The mental and the bodily habits are never, and can never be forcibly worked upon. But the feelings of the heart may direct the former to entirely new objects, and lead to a course of conduct that will in the end produce a change of habits.

To these observations I must add one more, the importance of which as well as its truth, I am learning every day of my life. It is this-Conversion is not a sudden change of the heart, but one which is effected gradually and almost imperceptibly. I never yet knew a case of what I have before denominated as conversion, in which investigation has not enabled me to trace the operation of causes and motives unknown, it may be, to the individual himself, but manifestly preparing him for the reception of the gospel. It may be true, indeed, (and here lies the secret of the dispute on the subject) that God has not called the individual to any express act of decision of the side of religion-but it is not less true that he has been carefully preparing him for that event. We hear men often declare that on such a day, and by such a sermon, they were brought to God, but I am not disposed to admit the truth of an assertion so contrary to the known operation of the

laws that regulate the human mind. I am quite sure that the day on which the first open act of duty to God was performed, or the day on which the first resolute determination to forsake sin was made, may be remembered in many cases; but I should as readily believe that the appearance of the corn above which the ground, was an indication of the day upon it began to germinate, as that the performance of such an act of duty was the whole of the work of conversion or the commencement of it. Nor is this opinion in the least affected by the fact, that many are arrested in open and avowed opposition to God— for the personal assurances which I have received from such persons of the moral condition of their hearts, have very much contributed to strengthen a now established proposition in my system of theology, that "the kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in the ground, and it sprung up he knew not how.”

Having thus cleared away some of those obstacles which might have impeded the reception of my future papers, I will add some illustrations of the effects of change of heart, which will be within the experience of every true believer.

1. As to God. The Christian takes an entirely different view of the Deity to that which is entertained by men of the world; and if I were disposed to adduce evidence in favour of the gradual nature of a change of heart, I should certainly find it in the fact, that the knowledge of God can be derived only from experience and repeated illustrations of his attributes, which must necessarily be a work of time and observation. Thus the Christian desires to regard the hand of his Heavenly Father in every event of life. He now can appreciate the purity of the Divine character, and the immutable necessity which compels God to be an inflexible and unchangeable foe to sin of every kind and degree. He now can feel that life is only well spent, when it is felt to be spent in the immediate presence of God; and that the operation of the Father of the universe can never be traced too extensively or minutely. Once he could and did spend his days and form his plans, without attaching any importance to the concurrence and approbation of God, but now he would tremble to enter upon any undertaking which had not been examined with reference to the will of the Deity, and upon which his blessing had not been sought. Once it had been his diligent endeavour to exclude from his mind all reflections upon the coming termination of human life, but now he can, to some extent, exclaim with the apostle, "I die daily," and share in the elevated piety which led his Divine Redeemer to speak of death as "departure to the Father." In short, his opinions and his views respecting the Deity are entirely changed, and it is to his shame and sorrow, if they are not changing for the better with the experience of every year of his life.

2. As to himself. He is now able to appreciate his real character and his innumerable imperfections. The fatal system of comparing his conduct with that of his fellow-men is now entirely abandoned, and since he takes for his model the Divine and perfect Saviour, he cannot but be hourly convinced of his deficiencies and sins. He may, indeed, with the sincerity which is ever attendant upon integrity and virtue, feel that he is worthy of respect and affection from his fellow-creatures, but he has learnt that the estimate of the Deity is far more scrutinizing than that of the world has any need to be, and whenever his own conduct is the subject of his reflections, he joins with David in exclaiming, "who can tell how oft he offendeth?" There can be no doubt that a just estimate of ourselves lies at the foundation of all

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