tactics of that vast army! Discipline could not be enforced, and the entire strategy would be spoiled, if the rifleman were to be indulged in colours as gaudy as those which adorn a grenadier.) He has had another sort of service to perform, and must not be so conspicuous. His work was in the cloisters, out of public view.

After paying duty to his superiors, and transforming his exterior into the figure of a Bishop or Archbishop as the case may be, he is to take possession of his diocese or province. As this is a public act, and as every gesture will be significant, his movements are to be adjusted according to the "Ceremonial."* As a thoughtful father, before returning homeward, buys a few playthings for the lesser children, the Bishop elect, before proceeding to his diocese, or while waiting to be installed in his cathedral, should ask 66 our most holy Lord the Pope" for some special grace or faculty, for a plenary indulgence, if nothing else,-to gladden the spirits of the faithful, when he shall first say mass among them. If it answer no other end, the expectation of some superhuman gift from the new Prelate will crowd the place; but amongst infidels or heretics the pearls are usually husbanded at first, lest the profane should trample on them. Carefully must he prepare apparel for himself, and furniture for his horse or mule, proper to be worn by him and it during the journey and on his entrance into the episcopal city. And he must take his books. The Bible is not required, but the Church-books which he will have to use. The Pontifical and Ceremonial must certainly be packed up in his luggage, with pluvial, stole, "precious mitre," hood, alb, girdle, ring, &c. If he be an Archbishop, as soon as he sets foot within his province, a crucifix is to be raised on high and carried before him, in signal of possession. All persons are to kneel down as he passes, and thus he is to bless his subjects (subditos) with the mystic sign. For the province of an Archbishop, be it well noted, is not merely an assignment of persons to his oversight, but an allotment of territory to his jurisdiction and government, whatever the "Archbishop of Westminster may think it expedient to affirm to the contrary. The Bishop, on entering his diocese, shall do the like. A day or two before entering the episcopal city or metropolis, he is instructed to send information of the time of his arrival to his Vicar, to the Canons, to the Chapter, and also to the Magistrates and officers of the city; that, at the appointed hour, all may be ready to come out and meet him in procession. Attended by the authorities, clerical and civic, shaded by a silken canopy, preceded by the cross, (not now so much the emblem of redemption as the standard of a host,) having the way strewed with flowers,-the abject flock down upon their knees,—the air fragrant with incense, and vibrating with the clatter of bells and the booming of artillery,-the shepherd of souls enters the gate, and takes possession of his charge. Does he tread in his MASTER'S steps? See him mounted on a princely steed, the animal itself covered with silken trappings, silver-shod, and the rider glittering in cloth of gold and gorgeous colours; the chief men of the city walking bare-headed by his side, and carrying the canopy that shades him from the sun-beams. His arm is slightly raised, and the motion of his fingers indicates that an aura of benediction is supposed to be flowing from them, to hallow the people who gaze on him as if he were a god rather than a man. Barons and Princes head the long procession, and lead him forward, to signify that

* Cæremoniale Episcoporum,—the authority chiefly taken for this part of the description, as the Pontificale Romanum has been for the preceding.

they place the civil power at his disposal. Having reached the gate of the cathedral, he is to alight; one of the highest dignitaries is to honour him with fumes of frankincense exhaled from a burning censer, just as the Romans were wont to pay honour to their gods, or to the image of Cæsar ; and then, a brush of holy water being given into his hand, he is to sprinkle the place, and cleanse it from any worldly taint that might have polluted it, showing himself as if he were the Lord come suddenly to His temple! Then, as he enters the building, the highest skill of music shall be put forth for him; the most perfect voices making harmony in the chant,— "We praise Thee, O God, we acknowledge Thee," &c. This ended, the precious mitre is taken from his head; the successor of the martyred evangelist who reproved the Athenian worshippers of vanity, and the reverend and noble crowd around him, simultaneously fall prostrate before the most holy sacrament; and, having done worship there, the Prelate ascends the altar, and bestows his first great blessing.

Enough of this. We might follow the Bishop through the business of his diocese, and describe his demeanour, if it be canonically exact, on every occasion:-his habit, bearing, civilities meted out in ratio to each class and rank; his appointed train, from the all-important master of ceremonies down to the sub-deacons, acolyths, and servants. We might tell in what posture they approach to kiss his hands, and reveal the order and mode in which he is required to join, separate, raise, and extend those hands when he prays or when he blesses; so that not one flexor or extensor muscle may presume to act, until it be set in action by the supreme volition of the Church, who presides over all attitudes, from the nictitation of an eye-lash, even to the step ecclesiastical. We might set down the very note and key in which it is lawful for a Bishop and his train to breathe out their soul in prayer, or for a Deacon to dismiss the congregation,-if, indeed, the soul have any breathing-place allowed. We could attend the Bishop through the sacred year; and show how he is permitted to perform his daily prayer, and how, in great solemnities, he is to preside or wait; how to say mass, or see it said or sung; how to wash the feet of poor men, or of rich Canons, in Passion-week; what to do in litanies, how to walk in honour of the Corpus Christi, and so on. But it would wear out the patience of both writer and reader to be so long at child's play. Yet this child's play is the glory of the Church. To revive this parade, or some part of it, in England, is to revive religion,—such religion as they have. To be able to unfurl these colours is to have religious liberty,- -a liberty that surely none need grudge them; albeit it is a sorry liberty, sadly unlike that glorious emancipation in which the children of God are made free from the law of sin and death.

There is yet one stage more, beyond which no mortal eye can follow this Prelate. Let us attend him there. Let us go into his chamber, and see in what guise the Church directs him to sicken and to die. And, lest our pen should be unfaithful, it shall transcribe, almost literally, the directions given by authority for conducting the sickness, death, burial, and exequies of a Bishop. "Although," then, "a Bishop, as a good pastor, and as a most diligent steward, ought to be ready at any time to give an account to his Lord of the sheep committed to him, and of the charge he has administered, yet he should proceed with a more diligent care and study when he is sick, as one that now draws nearer to the last day of his life. For, although peril of death is always imminent on mortals, yet we are nearer death when we are sick." O that the truth had always been set forth so

clearly! The sick Bishop, therefore, is to ponder the dignity in which he is exalted above others, and try to perform the last act of life, in which only the elect are crowned, (cum laude,) so as to be applauded. Physicians, servants, friends, and chiefly his Confessor, are to tell him his condition, when death seems to be near; disclosing the fact with extreme reverence and charity, not omitting suitable entreaty that he be resigned to the will of God, and endeavour to make sure of the salvation of his soul. "The sick Bishop, stirred up by these words and exhortations, or (which would be better) of his own accord, when he knows his last day to be near, shall first most diligently confess his sins to his Confessor, and then, at a suitable time, ask for the sacred Viaticum; and, before he communicates, being clad in his rochette and stole, the most holy body of Christ being present, shall profess the Catholic faith in the form prescribed by the Apostolic See, which he must affirm that he has always held and believed without wavering and firmly, and that he will live in it, and die in it when it pleases God. Then, with the greatest possible devotion and humility, he shall take the sacred Viaticum, brought to him by the first dignitary; the whole Chapter being in attendance, and all the Clergy of the cathedral church in their ecclesiastical habit, and with lighted candles; and, if it can be done, let the Magistrates bring the canopy, and let the Bishop admonish the Sacristan"—a dignified Clergyman-" or the Curate to administer to him extreme unction, and make commendation of his soul" when the time comes. Then, while his senses are yet unimpaired, he is to call the whole body of his Clergy together, and again openly recite the same creed, ask their pardon for any misdoings he may have committed, beg their prayers, tell them of all church-affairs, and give directions for his burial.

He is now released from the Church, whose orders henceforth relate to the last act of unction, the washing, embalming, and exhibition of his body, with prayers to be offered for the soul. Special care is to be taken that candles be lit around the corpse in sufficient number; but to what intent, the learned in such affairs must say. That it was once a pagan custom is past all doubt, and it seems to be so still.

But what information do we gather from this review of a Romish Bishop's ceremonial life? We perceive that there are two ideas dominant throughout; namely, those of dignity and power. You may parallel the legions of Romish Clergy with the best-appointed and most exactlydisciplined army in the world, always leaving the advantage with the ecclesiastical institution over the military. No army is garrisoned so widely. No army is so well secured against insubordination. No army can be maintained so certainly. The esprit de corps is not anywhere so strong. And there is no other army in the world whose General, like the Archbishop in his province, can erect his standard in a foreign country, and receive honours from the subjects and servants and ministers of other Sovereigns, without being instantly encountered as an enemy. And that this impunity arises not from the harmlessness of the Church of Rome, but is most unwisely rendered to the power she exerts with a subtle and unwavering policy, all history attests. On this point there is not room to enter here. Let it suffice to note again what utter dissimilarity there is between the Gospel of Christ and the discipline, usages, and spirit of the Papacy. You find no resemblance to this episcopal pageant in any part of the word of God and, even allowing for the aspect of power, and the accident of wealth, that could scarcely be separated from any great institution of long standing, however pure; and even comparing the Roman hierarchy

with Moses and the Elders, rather than with our Lord and His disciples,— with a system fully grown, although inferior, rather than with a system only beginning to be formed,-the utter absence of spirituality, simplicity, and holiness in this hierarchy, even as it is self-exhibited, (to say nothing of its heresies and crimes,) demonstrates that it is not of God. It is a system of power, arrayed in manifest hostility against THE LAMB OF GOD, R.

WHO TAKETH AWAY THE SIN OF THE WORLD.

LAWFULNESS OF AMUSEMENTS.

IN judging of the innocence or immorality of prevalent amusements, (says an American,) you will do well to keep before your minds the three following questions, as so many tests :

1. Can you make them the subject of believing prayer? Supposing you have ventured to engage in them, can you ask the blessing of God to accompany them for your benefit? and on returning from them, perhaps at the hour of midnight, can you offer up thanks to Him for having given you the opportunity of joining in them? If you cannot, be assured they are amusements which cannot endure the scrutiny of an enlightened conscience, or the eye of a holy God.

2. Can you indulge in them without having your religious feelings impaired or weakened? Can you return from them with an increased wish for the study of Divine truths, and the enjoyment of devotion? Can you say, after ruminating on the impressions they have left on your hearts, that they have stimulated and strengthened your gracious affections and spiritual desires? If you cannot, you have reason to pause, to consider, and to ask yourselves whether or not you are "keeping yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life;"—whether or not you are "seeking those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God."

3. Inquire, further, whether the pursuit of them will afford you comfort in the immediate prospect of death. Will they help to assuage the sorrows of dissolution, and dissipate the gloom of the grave? Will they contribute to sustain the confidence, the courage, and the hope of the departing soul, and to embolden her approach upward to the tribunal of the Judge? Or are they calculated rather to leave a sting in your awakened conscience, to plant a thorn in your dying pillow, and to cast an additional shade on the dark valley? Ah, my young friends, these are so many criteria by which you may judge of the character and tendency of fashionable amusements, and discover the duty and importance of "choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.” I most readily grant that periods of relaxation are necessary to refresh and invigorate the powers of our minds. But it does not follow that we are at liberty to fritter away valuable portions of time, either in abject sloth or frivolous recreations. As moral beings, accountable to God for the use to which we apply our passing hours, and awaiting an immortal existence beyond the skies, we should see whether there may not be found recreations that combine utility with relaxation. It is by no means necessary, as the popular notion is, that the change should be from an employment that is useful to one that is useless; but the object may be even better accomplished by a change that shall keep the mind still employed to advantage. If your ordinary employment is one that lays your faculties

SCRIPTURAL EDUCATION.

under severe contribution, that to which you resort for amusement ought undoubtedly to require but moderate mental exercise; and in cases of great exhaustion from intellectual effort, it may be proper to give the mind, for a season, an entire dispensation from the labour of connected thought. But, in all ordinary cases, you will find that in unbending from severe exertion of mind, with reference to renewing that exertion with greater success, you need not yield to positive inaction, or occupy yourself with anything that is trifling, but may still be doing something for the benefit of yourself or your fellow-creatures. If you regulate your amusements by a regard to this principle, you will find it a most effectual means of redeeming time, and will have the pleasure to reflect that even your hours of relaxation are hours of usefulness.

SCRIPTURAL EDUCATION.

AMONGST the various classes of evangelical religionists nothing will be admitted to be more certain, as a general principle, than that the church of Christ is bound to make the best possible provision for the religious instruction of all ranks and conditions of the people, who are already included in its pale, or who may be in any way within the reach of a practicable agency. And, in the fulfilment of this duty, the range of such provision is required to be extended to all ages, as well as to all ranks,-to youth as well as to adults,—and to the poor as well as to the affluent.

Of this duty one branch consists in the establishment of places of religious worship, and the support of a duly-qualified and efficient ministry, for the spiritual guidance and edification of the church already existing, and for the in-gathering of those who are yet in a condition of avowed or And a second branch of the same duty virtual estrangement from it. involves the responsibility of promoting separate and special means for the religious training of the youthful portion of the community, in addition to the general means of instruction accessible to them in common with adults. In other words, the church is under obligation to Him who is "Head over all things to the church,"-and under obligation, also, to those whom by His own positive injunction He has invested with a claim on its attention and sympathy, to look, particularly, to the education of young persons, at least so far as religion is concerned, as well as, generally, to the religious instruction of all classes.

The second of the principles thus stated, (as well as the first, which it is not the object of this paper particularly to consider,) is too obvious, both as to the grounds on which it primarily rests, and the auxiliary considerations by which it is enforced, not to have been noticed and acknowledged from the very earliest period. It was, in fact, embodied and made binding, by Divine authority, as an essential portion, or at least an indispensable accompaniment, of the law prescribed to the first church of God, in anything like a collective character, of which we have any record. "These words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart; and thou shalt teach them diligently to thy children;* and shalt talk of them when

* That is, shalt explain, as well as inculcate, so as to render them easily intelligible to the children. The proper rendering of the Hebrew, according to Calmet, is, Vous les leur mâcherez, comme une nourrice máche tout ce qu'elle donne à ses enfans," Thou shalt chew them for them, as a nurse chews everything that she gives to her children." See his Comm, on Deut. vi. 7.