the most unornamented kind, seated amid rugged hills, on a stony and forbidding soil, with scarcely a picturesque object in the whole compass of the surrounding view.' Chateaubriand's description is very striking and graphical. After citing the language of the Prophet Jeremiah, in his Lamentations on the desolation of the ancient city, as accurately portraying its present state, Lam. i. 1–6 ; ji. 1– 9, 15, he thus proceeds : ، When seen from the Mount of Olives, on the other side of the Valley of Jehoshaphet, Jerusalem presents an inclined plane, descending from west to east. An embattled wall, fortified with towers and a gothic castle, encompasses the city all round; excluding, however, part of Mount Zion, which it formerly enclosed. In the western quarter, and in the centre of the city, the houses stand very close; but, in the eastern part, along the brook Kedron, you perceive vacant spaces; among the rest, that which surrounds the mosque erected on the ruins of the temple, and the nearly deserted spot where once stood the castle of Antonia and the second palace of Herod. The houses of Jerusalem are heavy square masses, very low, without chimneys or windows: they have flat terraces or domes on the top, and look like prisons or sepulchres. The whole would appear to the eye one uninterrupted level, did not the steeples of the churches, the minarets of the mosques, the summits of a few cypresses, and the clumps of nopals, break the uniformity of the plan. On beholding these stone buildings, encompassed by a stony country, you are ready to inquire if they are not the confused monuments of a cemetery in the midst of a desert. Enter the city, but nothing will you there find to make amends for the dulness of its exterior. You lose yourself among narrow unpaved streets, here going up hill, there down, from the inequality of the ground; and you walk among clouds of dust or loose stones. Canvass, stretched from house to house, increases the gloom of this labyrinth. Bazaars roofed over, and fraught with infection, completely exclude the light from the desolate city. A few paltry shops expose nothing but wretchedness to view; and even these are frequently shut, from apprehension of the passage of a cadi. Not a creature is to be seen in the streets, not a creature at the gates, except now and then a peasant gliding through the gloom, concealing under his garments the fruits of his labour, lest he should be robbed of his hard earnings by the rapacious soldier. Aside, in a corner, the Arab butcher is slaughtering some animal suspended by the legs from a wall in ruins: from his haggard and ferocious look, and his bloody hands, you would suppose that he had been cutting the throat of a fellow-creature, rather than killing a lamb. The only noise heard from time to time in the city, is the galloping of the steed of the desert: it is the janissary who brings the head of the Bedouin, or who returns from plundering the unhappy Fellah. Amid this extraordinary desolation, you must pause a moment to contemplate two circumstances still more extraordinary. Among the ruins of Jerusalem, two classes of independent people find in their religion sufficient fortitude to enable them to 110 MISCELLANEOUS EXTRACTS. surmount such complicated horrors and wretchedness. Here reside communities of Christian monks, whom nothing can compel to forsake the tomb of Christ; neither plunder, nor personal ill-treatment, nor menaces of death itself. Night and day they chant their hymns around the holy sepulchre. Driven by the cudgel and the sabre, women, children, flocks, and herds, seek refuge in the cloisters of these recluses. What prevents the armed oppressor from pursuing his prey, and overthrowing such feeble ramparts? The charity of the monks they deprive themselves of the last resources of life to ransom their suppliants.' : 999 (To be continued.) MISCELLANEOUS EXTRACTS. ALFRED THE GREAT.-Alfred, justly surnamed the Great, a prince not inferior in talent to Charlemagne, and infinitely his superior in piety and suavity of manners, ascended the throne of England in the year 871. Born when his country was involved in the most profound darkness and deplorable confusion, and when learning was considered rather as a reproach than an honour to a prince, he was not taught to know one letter from another till he was about twelve years of age, when a book was put into his hand by a kind of accident more than by previous design. The queen, his mother, one day being in company with her four sons, of whom Alfred was the youngest, and having a book of Saxon poems in her hand, beautifully written and illuminated, observed that the royal youths were charmed with the beauty of the book; upon which she said, "I will make a present of this book to him who shall learn to read it soonest." Alfred immediately took fire, and applied to learn to read with such ardour, that, in a very little time, he both read and repeated the poem to the queen, and received it for his reward. From that moment he was seized with an insatiable thirst for knowledge; and reading and study became his chief delight. But great difficulties were thrown in his way; for not only was his kingdom for many years the seat of war-during which he is said to have fought, in person, fifty-six battles by sea and land-but at that time few or none among the West Saxons had any learning, or could so much as read with propriety and ease. "At my accession to the throne,' observes Alfred, in a letter to Wulfsig, Bishop of Worcester, "all knowledge and learning were extinguished in the English nation, insomuch that there were very few, to the south of the Humber, who understood the common prayers of the Church, or were capable of translating a single sentence of Latin into English; but to the south of the Thames I cannot recollect so much as one who could do this." The prayers of the Church were then read in Latin, and con MISCELLANEOUS EXTRACTS. 111 tinued to be so until the period of the Reformation, by Luther. The wise and pious Alfred, solicitous for the improvement of his subjects, gave every encouragement to learning, adding the powerful influence of his own example. He carried a book, containing the Psalms of David, and other prayers, copied by himself, continually in his bosom, to which he applied whenever he had opportunity. He was accustomed, daily, to attend divine service, especially the Eucharist; making use also of prayers and psalms in private. He kept the established hours of prayer, being every third hour, both night and day; and frequently entered the churches, secretly, in the night, for prayer; often lamenting, with sighs, his want of more acquaintance with Divine wisdom. He used also, with a careful solicitude, to hear the Scriptures of God from the recitations of natives, or even to hear prayers equally from foreigners, if by chance any arrived from abroad. Dr. J. Townley. THE REDEEMER'S CONQUEST.-Hark! to the shout of exultation with which the Saviour yields his Spirit—" It is finished!" Its echo passes onward through the regions of immensity, and shakes the foundations of the deep! Hell hears the echo, and groans from its inmost caverns; while shouts of admiring rapture swell from the battlements of heaven. "It is finished! it is finished!" The work of atonement is finished; the propitiatory sacrifice is offered; the mystery of redemption is complete ! Cry unto Zion that her warfare is accomplished, her iniquity is pardoned, and she hath received, at the Lord's hand, double for all her sins." 66 He descends into the bowels of the earth, that he may undermine the foundations of the throne of Satan! He is carried into the prison-house of death, that he may pursue the fell monster round every corner of his dreary habitation, and rob him of his sting! He descends to the chamber of Hades, that he may proclaim "liberty to the captive, and the opening of the prison-doors to them that are bound!" He is borne to the grave, that he may break down its bulwarks, and open a way on its farther side to let its prisoners free! Victory! victory! Raise the loud shout of victory, ye children of the Lord. Hail from the tomb, with notes of exultation, the Conqueror, whose resurrection is a pledge of yours. He hath given death his death-wound! He hath spoiled principalities and powers, making a show of them openly on his cross! He hath led captivity captive, and received gifts, yea, the gift of salvation, for lost and ruined man! He comes not tainted with vapours of the charnel-house, but redolent with the fragrant breezes of heaven. Earth feels their glad influence as they pass across her bosom, and blooms like the garden of Eden. Glad tidings are proclaimed over her hills and valleys-glad tidings of salvation now accomplished! The winds bear them onward in their course, amidst shouts of welcome and resounding hallelujahs; while in heaven a higher anthem rises, and from ten thousand 112 MISCELLANEOUS EXTRACTS. harps and ten thousand thousand voices, swells the ecstatic chorus"Lift up your heads, ye everlasting gates, that the King of glory may come in!"-(See "Thoughts on Salvation." By Thomas Ragg. 18mo., pp. 76. Longman, Brown, & Co. Mr. Ragg is the author of a justly celebrated poem entitled "The Deity," and of several other talented productions. His name has been associated, by the most eminent critics, with those of Pollock, Young, and Milton. It affords us great satisfaction to observe intellectual powers of such an order employed in the elucidation and enforcement of the paramount truths relating to man's moral recovery. We have examined, with peculiar interest, our author's "Thoughts" on this thrilling subject. Though written in prose, the language is highly poetical. The sublime conception, the energy of thought, the beauty of expression, the deep-toned piety, and the fidelity of appeal by which the work is distinguished, will not fail to be appreciated by the Christian student. We are persuaded that this valuable little volume will obtain an extensive circulation.-ED.) FRAGMENTS.-Charity to the souls of men is, undoubtedly, the highest, the noblest, and the most important charity. No one knows how much good he may do by dispersing Bibles and books of piety, which may have a tendency to make men wiser and better. Who can tell but that, with the expense of less than a shilling, you may "convert a sinner from the error of his ways, and save a soul from death"? A worse doom than to be condemned to the mines rests upon that soul who had rather hoard up his money than employ it in such a charity.-Rev. Cotton Mather, D.D. Temptations, when we first meet them, are as the lion that roared upon Samson; but if we overcome them, next time we see them we shall find a nest of honey within them.-Bunyan. If once, like Hezekiah, we call in spectators to see our treasures, and applaud us for our gifts and comfort, then it is high time for God, if he indeed love us, to send some messengers to carry these away from us, which carry our hearts away from him.-Gurnal. Gospel holiness includes a heart broken for sin, a heart broken off from sin, a vigorous conflict with sin, a peaceful triumph over sin.-Green. The light of Divine revelation is the only light which can effectually disperse the gloom of a sick chamber, and irradiate even the countenance of death.-Dr. Reid. Prayer is the only weapon which can stay your lusts, and keep your evidences bright. Cultivate prayer.-Rev. Legh Richmond. All communications to the Editor, (whose address is 27, PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON,) must be post-paid. CITY PRESS: D. A. DOUDNEY. THE LOCAL PREACHER'S JOURNAL. LONDON: T. WARD & CO., PATERNOSTER ROW; THE change in regeneration consists in the recovery of the moral image of God upon the heart; that is to say, so as to love him supremely, and serve him ultimately, as our highest end; and to delight in him, superlatively, as our chief good. The sum of the moral law is, to love the Lord our God with all our heart, and soul, and strength, and mind. This is the duty of every rational creature ; and, in order to obey it perfectly, no part of our inward affection or actual service, ought to be, at any time, or in the least degree, misapplied. Regeneration consists in the principle, being implanted, obtaining the ascendency, and habitually prevailing over its opposite. It may be remarked, that though the inspired writers used various terms and modes of speech in order to describe this change of mind, sometimes terming it conversion, regeneration, a new creation, or the new creature, putting off the old man with his deeds, I |