member of the congregation was bound to assist every other, as a brother; and the congregations all over the earth were to feel themselves united by the Spirit as one body of redeemed men, Jews and Gentiles, Greeks and Barbarians. Many of them continued during this period to be ruled by Elders, called also Overseers (Bishops): in parts of Asia Minor and at Rome, the people confided the direction to one chosen individual, while they retained the supreme legislative right of making regulations. Thus, while in the dignity of Bishop, man again is truly honoured, because trusted and freely obeyed, the universal Christian conscience sways supreme as in the times of the Apostles; more so, indeed, inasmuch as the Apostles were chosen by Christ, founded the congregations, and stood above local governments; whereas the Bishops were chosen by the people themselves, and possessed only local, and that a limited authority. But what is the Christian view of the state? To a Christian the state is a punishment, to be borne with patience; it belongs to this earth, and is doomed to perish with it. The Christian honours the Emperor as Christ did Tiberius, and respects his representatives as Christ did Pontius Pilate. Caiaphas is no more: his last succcessor lies buried under the ruins of the Temple. Nero, too, is gone: is he really (as the general prophecy and belief goes) to return from the East and destroy the new Babylon, the guilty queen of this doomed world? Such were the rumours which, together with many strange doctrines and speculations, Jewish and Gentile, pervaded the Christian world. As Peter had to combat Simon the Samaritan, and Paul the Jewish Gnostics, with their genealogies of angels and æons (1 Tim. iv., 7, Tit. iii.), so John had to warn them against Cerinthus. He, also a Jewish Gnostic of Alexandria, who speculated deeply on the nature of the cosmogonic process, concluded from the suffering and death of Jesus that the Christ had departed from him; and in respect to the kingdom of God which was to come, indulged in images of chiliastic happiness, which remind us of the Bacchic mysteries, and border upon Mohammedan sensualism. Almost a century has passed away since Christ was born; the aged disciple still lives; is he (as was believed) really not to die before the Lord returns? or is he to fall asleep like all the other Apostles and eyewitnesses? All is dark and dreary upon earth; there is no light even for the believer but in hea ven; no abode for the faith but in the Jerusalem above. Thither the Church is to be elevated. The kingdoms of this world are to become the kingdoms of the Lord; but before that can come to pass, the world must perish. And perish it will: Christ has announced it. When? Nobody knows. Such was the temper, such were the doubts, fears, and expectations of the latter part of this second age of the Apostles, in which St. John at Ephesus wrote his Gospel and his great Epistle. They both breathe the spirit of his last and constantly. repeated injunction and message to his congregation: "Children, love one another!" As in the life and writings of Paul so in those of St. John we clearly discern two periods. In the Apocalypse we see his ardent mind subject to prophetic ectasies; in his Gospel and Epistle we behold the calm teacher, the Apostle of love. This difference is independent of another circumstance which may help to explain the contrast as to language. I mean the difference between a Jewish secretary who may have acted the part of amanuensis in committing the vision to writing, and whose style would naturally be Hebraising and barbarous, and the men of Asia Minor, the Bishops and Elders of the Greek cities; who (as we shall see presently) edited his Gospel in good Hellenistic Greek. We trace the same amanuensis in the Epistles, which date from the latter portion of his life. According to a uniform tradition, St. John died at Ephesus in the year 98 or 99, the last of Nerva's, or the first of Trajan's reign. The fourth Gospel decidedly belongs to the last decennium of the first Christian century. There is an ancient tradition traceable to Hegesippus, the first Christian historian, who, after making diligent researches in Asia and Europe, wrote about the year 175 or 180, that St. John who was the only survivor of the Apostles, consented at the request of some fellow-disciples (Andrew, Peter's brother, being mentioned by name), and that of the neighbouring Bishops and Elders of Asia, to write what he had seen. The same tradition also states that all these recognised or confirmed it ("recognoscentibus cunctis"), which im plies them to have been the editors. throughout the Christian world. He accordingly resolved to sketch the true chronological framework as lightly as pos sible, and to expatiate only on such points as bore upon the great theme of the prologue. This is the key to the right criti cism of his whole Gospel. The Gospel itself, indeed contains plainly | he must have been very reluctant to oppose enough this confirmatory evidence of the it, and thereby disturb the popular account editors. They it was who after St. John's which was written down and circulated death added the 21st chapter, at the end of which they address themselves to the reader in the words of v. 24. "This is the disciple which testified all these things, and wrote these things; and we know that his testimony is true." The Apostle speaks of himself in the third person, when addressing the reader, as he does towards the very end (xix. 35): "And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true; and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe." In order to understand the arrangement of this Gospel, we must recall to our minds the position in which John stood to the catechetical tradition, and to the faith of the congregations, when he undertook to write down what he had seen. At that time a generation had passed away since the destruction of Jerusalem, and two generations had succeeded each other since the beginning of the catechetical teaching about Christ all over the world. This account originally contained the five chapters: How Jesus was baptized by John; How He preached and worked miracles in Galilee; How He travelled about, going towards Jerusalem; How He preached at Jerusalem; How He suffered and died there, and rose on the third day. By far the greater part of these five chapters is anecdotal: that is to say, consists of Jesus' doings and sayings, loosely strung together, and capable therefore of gradual addition and enlargement. These accounts were historical, but could not, and never were originally intended to be considered chronological. The sentence which connects them, being the work of the individual compiler, evidently forms no part of the primitive tradition. BARON VON BUNSEN. THE PAST. No touch of change! I close my eyes- I hear the rustling of her dress; ANONYMOUS. Spring still makes spring within the mind, Over the winter glaciers I see the summer glow, EMERSON. FIRST SIGHT OF THE ALBERT [SIR SAMUEL WHITE BAKER, English author and traveller, born at Thorngrove, Worcestershire, 1821. After eight years residence in Ceylon, he commenced, in 1861, at his own cost, an expedition for discovery of the sources of the Nile, which was followed up by seve Christ left Galilee very soon after his baptism, and remained about a year in Judæa, till he heard of the Baptist's death. This was the occasion of his visiting Jerusalem for the first time, to which he after-ral subsequent expeditions, in all of which he was acwards twice returned. In the meantime he had made a longer stay in Galilee, and travelled about the country in various directions. Circumstances such as these were unimportant to the catechumens, who of course could only wish to have analogous sayings put together, and the whole framework as simple as possible. This course The glory of our prize suddenly burst John could not adopt and sanction; but upon me! There, like a sea of quicksilver, companied by his wife. He met with eminent success, receiving gold medals from geographical societies of London and Paris for his additions to geographical knowledge. His principal works are, "The Albert Nyanza and Explorations of the Nile's Sources" (1866), "The Nile Tributaries of Abyssinnia" (1867), and "Ismailia" (1874). It is impossible to decribe the triumph of that moment; here was the reward for all our labour-for the years of tenacity with which we had toiled through Africa. England had won the sources of the Nile! lay far beneath the grand expanse of water | may be seen upon the English shore. It a boundless sea horizon on the south and was a grand sight to look upon this vast resouth-west, glittering in the noonday sun; servoir of the mighty Nile, and to watch and on the west, at fifty or sixty miles' dis- the heavy swell tumbling upon the beach, tance, blue mountains rose from the bosom while far to the south-west the eye searched of the lake to a height of about seven thou- as vainly for a bound as though upon the sand feet above its level. Atlantic. It was with extreme emotion that I enjoyed this glorious scene. My wife, who had followed me so devotedly, stood by my side pale and exhausted—a wreck upon the shores of the great Albert Lake that we have so long striven to reach. No European foot had ever trod upon its sand, nor had the eyes of a white man scanned its vast expanse of water. We were the first; and this was the key to the great secret that even Julius Cæsar yearned to unravel, but in vain. Here was the great basin of the Nile that received every drop of water, even from the passing shower to the roaring mountain torrent that drained from Central Africa towards the north. This was the great reservoir of the Nile! I sincerely thanked God for having guided and supported us through all dan gers to the good end. I was about one thousand five hundred feet above the lake, and I looked down from the steep granite cliff upon those welcome waters-upon that vast reservoir which nourished Egypt and brought fertility where all was wildernessupon that great source so long hidden from mankind; that source of bounty and blessing to millions of human beings; and as one of the greatest objects in nature, I determined to honour it with a great name. As an imperishable memorial of one loved and mourned by our gracious Queen, and deplored by every Englishman, I called the great lake "the Albert Nyanza." The Victoria and the Albert lakes are the two sources of the Nile. The zigzag path to descend to the lake was so steep and dangerous, that we were forced to leave our oxen with a guide, who was to take them to Magungo and wait for our arrival. We commenced the descent of the steep pass on foot. I led the way, grasping a stout bamboo. My wife, in extreme weakness, tottered down the pass, supporting herself upon my shoulder, and stopping to rest every twenty paces. After a toilsome descent of about two hours, weak with years of fever, but for the moment strengthened by success, we gained the level plain below the cliff. A walk of about a mile through flat sandy meadows of fine turf, interspersed with trees and bush, brought us to the water's edge. The waves were rolling upon a white pebbly beach: I rushed into the lake, and thirsty with heat and fatigue, with a heart full of gratitude, I drank deeply from the sources of the Nile. Within a quarter of a mile of the lake was a fishing village named Vacovia, in which we now established ourselves. The beach was perfectly clean sand, upon which the waves rolled like those of the sea, throwing up weeds precisely as sea-weed The first coup d'œil from the summit of the cliff, one thousand five hundred feet above the level, had suggested what a closer examination confirmed. The lake was a vast depression far below the general level of the country, surrounded by precipitous cliffs, and bounded on the west and south-west by great ranges of moun tains from five to seven thousand feet above the level of its waters-thus it was the one great reservoir into which everything must drain; and from this vast rocky cistern the Nile made its exit, a giant in its birth. QUEEN MARY AT LOCHLEVEN [AGNES STRICKLAND, a biographical and miscellaneous writer, born in Suffolk 1796, died in London 1874. She has written many volumes of biography, her most important works being "Lives of the Queens of England " (1840-49), and "Lives of the Queens of Scotland" (185059), prepared in conjunction with her sister Elizabeth, and based largely upon original documents.] The conspirators, calling themselves the Lords of Secret Council, having completed their arrangements for the long-meditated project of depriving her of her crown, summoned Lord Lindsay to Edinburgh, and on the 23d of July delivered to him and Sir Robert Melville three deeds, to which they were instructed to obtain her signature, either by flattering words or absolute force. The first contained a declaration, as if from herself, that, being in infirm health, and worn out with the cares of government, she had taken purpose voluntarily to resign her crown and office to her dearest son, James, Prince of Scotland.' In the second, her trusty brother James, Earl of Moray, was constituted regent for the prince her son, during the minority of the royal infant.' The third appointed a provisional council of regency, consisting of Morton and the other Lords of Secret Council, to carry on the government till Moray's return; or, in case of his refusing to accept it, till the prince arrived at the legal age for exercising it himself. Aware that Mary would not easily be induced to execute such instruments, Sir Robert Melville was especially employed to cajole her into this political suicide. That ungrateful courtier, who had been employed and trusted by his unfortunate sovereign ever since her return from France, and had received nothing but benefits from her, undertook this office. Having obtained a private interview with her, he deceitfully entreated her to sign certain deeds that would be presented to her by Lindsay, as the only means of preserving her life, which, he assured her, was in the most imminent danger.' Then he gave her a turquoise ring, telling her it was sent to her from the Earls of Argyle, Huntly, and Athole, Secretary Lethington, and the Laird of Grange, who loved her majesty, and had by that token accredited him to exhort her to avert the peril to which she would be exposed, if she ventured to refuse the requisition of the Lords of Secret Council, whose designs, they well knew, were to take her life, either secretly or by a mock-trial among themselves.' Finding the queen impatient of this insidious advice, he produced a letter from the English ambassador Throckmorton, out of the scabbard of his sword, telling her 'he had concealed it there at peril of his own life, in order to convey it to her'-a paltry piece of acting, worthy of the parties by whom it had been devised, for the letter had been written for the express purpose of inducing Mary to accede to the demission of her regal dignity, telling her, as if in confidence, that it was the queen of England's sisterly advice that she should not irritate those who had her in their power, by refusing the only concession that could save her life; and observing that nothing that was done under her present cir cumstances could be of any force when she regained her freedom.' Mary, however, resolutely refused to sign the deeds; declaring, with truly royal courage, that she would not make herself a party to the treason of her own subjects, by acceding to their lawless requisition, which, as she truly alleged, 'proceeded only of the ambition of a few, and was far from the desire of her people.' The fair-spoken Melville having reported his ill success to his coadjutor Lord Lindsay, Moray's brother-in-law, the bully of the party, who had been selected for the honourable of fice of extorting by force from the royal captive the concession she denied, that brutal ruffian burst rudely into her presence, and, flinging the deeds violently on the table before her, told her to sign them without delay, or worse would befall her. 'What!' exclaimed Mary, 'shall I set my hand to a deliberate falsehood, and, to gratify the ambition of my nobles, relinquish the office God hath given to me, to my son, an infant little more than a year old, incapable of governing the realm, that my brother Moray may reign in his name?' She was proceeding to demonstrate the unreasonableness of what was required of her, but Lindsay contemptu ously interrupted her with scornful laughter; then, scowling ferociously upon her, he swore with a deep oath, 'that if she would not sign those instruments, he would do it with her heart's blood, and cast her into the lake to feed the fishes.' Full well did the defenceless woman know how capable he was of performing his threat, having seen his rapier reeking with human blood shed in her presence, when he assisted at the butchery of her unfortunate secretary. The ink was scarcely dry of her royal signature to the remission she had granted to him for that outrage; but, reckless of the fact that he owed his life, his forfeit lands, yea, the very power of injuring her, to her generous clemency, he thus requited the grace she had, in evil hour for herself, accorded to him. Her heart was too full to continue the unequal contest. 'I am not yet five-and-twenty,' she pathetically observed; somewhat more she would have said, but her utterance failed her, and she began to weep with hysterical emotion. Sir Robert Melville, affecting an air of the deepest concern, whispered in her ear an earnest entreaty for her 'to save her life by signing the papers,' reiterating that whatever she did would be invalid because extorted by force.' Mary's tears continued to flow, but sign THE FLOWERS OF THE FOREST; BY MISS I've heard the lilting at our yowe-milking, she would not, till Lindsay, infuriated by her resolute resistance, swore that, having begun the matter, he would also finish it then and there,' forced the pen into her reluctant hand, and, according to the popular version of this scene of lawless violence, grasped her arm in the struggle so rudely, as to leave the prints of his mail-clad fingers visibly impressed. In an access of pain and terror, with streaming eyes and averted head, she affixed her regal signature to the three deeds, without once looking upon them. Sir Walter Scott alludes to Lindsay's barbarous In hairst, at the shearing, nae youths are now jeering, treatment of his hapless queen in these nervous lines: And haggard Lindsay's iron eye, That saw fair Mary weep in vain. At buchts, in the morning, nae blithe lads are scorning, The lasses are lonely, and dowie, and wae; The bandsters are lyart, and runkled, and gray; At e'en, at the gloaming, nae swankies are roaming, 'Bout stacks wi' the lasses at bogle to play, The Flowers of the Forest are a' wede away. George Douglas, the youngest son of the But ilk ane sits drearie, lamenting her dearie— Dool and wae for the order, sent our lads to the Border! The prime o' our land, are cauld in the clay. We hear nae mair lilting at our yowe-milking, The Flowers of the Forest are a' wede away. though hitherto employed as one of the per- The flowers of the Forest, that foucht aye the foremost, sons whose office it was to keep guard over her, he became from that hour the most devoted of her friends and champions, and the contriver of her escape. His elder brother, Sir William Douglas, the castellan, abso- Sighing and moaning on ilka green loaning— lutely refused to be present; entered a protest against the wrong that had been perpetrated under his roof; and besought the queen to give him a letter of exoneration, certifying that he had nothing to do with it, and that it was against his consent-which letter she him. gave AGNES STRICKLAND. THE FLOWERS OF THE FOREST. [Two national ballads, bearing the name of The Flowers of the Forest, continue to divide the favor of all lovers of song, and both are the composition of ladies. In minute observation of domestic life, traits of character and manners, and the softer language of the heart, ladies have often excelled the 'lords of the creation.' The first copy of verses, bewailing the losses sustained at Flodden, was written by Miss Jane Elliot of Minto (1727-1805), daughter of Sir Gilbert Elliot of Minto. The second song, which appears to be on the same subject, but was in reality occasioned by the bankruptcy of a number of gentlemen in Selkirkshire, is by Alicia Rutherford of Fernilie, who was afterwards married to Mr. Patrick Cockburn, advocate, and died in Edinburgh in 1794. We agree with Allan Cunningham in preferring Miss Elliot's song: but both are beautiful, and in singing, the second is the most effective. Sir Walter Scott has noticed how happily the manner of the ancient minstrels is imitated by Miss Elliot.] THE FLOWERS OF THE FOREST; BY MRS. I've seen the smiling Of Fortune beguiling; I've felt all its favors, and found its decay: Kind its caressing; But now 'tis fled-fied far away. I've seen the forest, Adorned the foremost With flowers of the fairest most pleasant and gay; I've seen the morning Oh fickle Fortune, Why this cruel sporting? |