aggravated Ahitophel's and Ju-t das's treachery.

excuses, as other rebels may some-ing snare to men of an exalted

station. Of course, their chief. care should be, to put themselves out of the reach of envy by humility.

Perseverance is an image of eternity.

The retired Christian, in seekng after a happy life, actually enjoys all the happiness this world can contain. He therefore possesses that already which he fan

pride, “God resisteth the proud,
and giveth grace to the humble :"
if it be from passion," the wrath
of man doth not work the righte-cies he is only pursuing.
ousness of God."

Juvenile Department.

HISTORICAL ESSAYS.

1377.

No. XVI.

comparatively unworthy of being regarded. Had the supreme pontiff possessed that sincere desire to benefit kingdoms and bless kings, On the Corruption of Christianity in which, when convenient, he arBritain, during the Reigns of Ed-dently professed, this tragical reign ward II. and III. A. D. 1307- afforded numerous opportunities for the labour of love: that instruction and consolation which the minister of religion should ever watch for opportunities to afford, would have been very seasonable to many indi viduals in this period of distress; and, for any thing he knew, might have been attended with the greatest success.

Ir is a little singular, from what we have already noticed of the policy of the court of Rome, that the calamitous reign of Edward II. should not have induced the Pope to exert himself in regaining his authority in England. Although few reigns presented more distressing scenes of unnatural rebellion and civil war, yet but little interference was experienced from the sovereign pontiff.

It was hardly to be expected that in the conflict of papacy and royalty, the former would make any progress in England during the long reign of so great a prince as Edward III.; whose energetic mind was equal to any enterprise which he undertook; who reduced the turbu lent barons, the general fomenters of civil discord, to obedience; who carried his successful arms into the very heart of the rival kingdom; and, at whose court, were seen, at the same period, two captive kings as the trophies of his skill and valour.

This weak prince, it is true, obtained absolution for his favourite Gaveston from the oaths extorted from him by the dissatisfied barons; and also procured the threats of the ecclesiastical power against Robert of Scotland, his formidable enemy, by whom they were treated with indifference and contempt. The attention of his holiness was perhaps too much engaged in promoting the destruction of the Knights Templars, and the enrichment of the more ma- There is scarcely a reign in the nageable and devoted order of St. English history that should be read John of Jerusalem, to interest him- with more caution by the serious self so much as formerly in the con- youth. The dignity, the bravery, cerns of this country: added to which, and the ardour of this monarch surthere might be other reasons which prise and delight us. To the herendered pacific measures desirable; roines as well as heroes, who figured for the deep policy of that court is in this distinguished reign, we alparticularly remarkable in abstain- most insensibly ascribe the warmest ing from interference where success praise. We are imperceptibly borne was not very probable. Nor does away with the enchanting narrative the manner in which Robert treated by the astonishing instances of indithe papal menaces, already alluded|vidual valour, and the wonderful to, detract from the force of this re- atchievements of handfuls of men; mark; seeing it was of so great im- nor is it till we call to mind the portance for the Pope to oblige Ed-searching question, and its scripward, from whom an annual tribute | tural answer, "Whence come wars was received, that to hazard the neglect of the papal mandate by a person, and from a country from which so little was expected, was

VOL. XII,

among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts?" or feel somewhat of the sweet spirit that dictated them, that we begin to view in their 3 P

not forgetting the transcendent bless

But we proceed to notice a victory more pleasing to the serious mind, than any of those to which our previous remarks have referred, which Edward gained over the antichristian power of Rome. Tribute to whom tribute is due is an admi

just light those scenes of blood and death. How appalling their conse-ings resulting from his benevolent quences! Thousands, and tens of life and voluntary death, as well as thousands, of accountable creatures, the holy tendency of all his precepts. at once hurried into a tremendous eternity; immense treasures expended in preparations of destruction, which might have dried the tears of inany an orphan, caused the hearts of numberless widows to sing for joy, diffused the means of scriptural knowledge through many a king-rable scriptural injunction, with dom, and, in untold ways, might have answered the calls of a noble benevolence! How lamentable that such talents as those of Edward should have been employed in destroying, instead of benefiting, mankind!

which its author was the first to comply; and proves the pacific and spiritual nature of the Redeemer's kingdom. But a tribute invented and extorted, as was that which England had now been long accustomed to pay to the papal see, served no other purpose than the de

and was alike disgraceful to the receiver and the contributor. Edward had paid it during some years of his minority, but soon resolved, with the approbation of his parliament, to discontinue it, fearless of that power which had imposed it, and distinctly expressing his disapprobation of the conduct of that weak prince who submitted to its commencement. Nor was this all; church patronage, so long exercised by the Pope, was abolished, and appeals to his court severely punished: so great indeed was the hatred of the parliament against the court of Rome, that they maintained that plagues and other national calamities were among the judgments to be expected from a connexion with that power; and justly and bitterly did they complain of its exactions, which they declared to exceed five times in value the taxes of the king.

We are the more anxious that the Christian youth should make a pro-struction of civil and religious liberty, fitable use of such narratives as those with which this reign abounds, because similar descriptions form so large a portion of general history, and on them the writers have often delighted to dwell. Not only has the historian, but the poet, the painter, and the musician, have severally contributed to give an interest to the subject; and even the themes of domestic conversation have too often eulogized the exploits, and pronounced those great who engaged in them, but who will hereafter appear among the least, if not the worst, of our species. Indeed popular opinion seems not only in general to justify them, but is, if we mistake not, rather in favour of their recurrence. Nor is this surprising, considering the depravity of our nature, and how nicely adapted is military glory, as it is called, to the pride of the human heart. The glitter of arms, the grandeur of the movements, the splendour of the dress, and the enchanting influence of the music, have conspired to lead many a youth astray; and who is there that has had opportunities of witnessing these powerful attrac-siderable truth in this remark; and tions, who can pronounce his heart certainly an external reformation to have been altogether uninfluenced began to dawn. But let our young by this combination of allurement? friends never forget, that all reformFrom such antichristian scenes it is ation will be but partial, until the good to turn to the Redeemer's his-human mind is humbled, enlighttory, and to contrast with all this ened, and purified, by the operations destructive pomp the instructive hu- of the Holy Spirit. mility and simplicity of his example,

An admired historian has said, that "men, who talked in this strain, were not far from the reformation, but Edward did not think proper to second all this zeal." There is con

H. S. A.

Obituary.

SUDDEN DEATH
OF ELIZABETH WHITE,
At the Baptist Meeting-house, Saffron
Walden, October 15, 1820.

Happy they who hear the sound, and like her, to whom this little Memoir is devoted, leave behind them a pleasing and consoling testimony that," absent from the body," they have entered a state of perfection and glory, and are "present" and blessed" with the Lord."

It was on the 15th of October, 1820-in the midst of the solemn ordi

while her father was handing round the bread, that the subject of this Obituary, in the twentieth year of her age, and in the very bloom of health, dropped down in the vestry and instantly expired!-Her father saw her fall, and immediately hastened to her help; but it was only in time to perceive the last faint gasp, which preceded the total extinction of the vital spark. The emancipated spirit in a moment left its tenement of clay; and, ere' the body could be removed from the sacred place in which it fell, as we have every reason to believe, was partaking of the banquet above.

If there be one consideration more awful and affecting to a pious mind than another, it is the heedlessness and apathy which exist innance of the Lord's Supper,-and the world with reference to a preparation for death and eternity. Nor is there a principle upon which we can account for it, separate from the dreadful depravity of human nature, and the powerful and prevailing influence of the great foe.-That the few trifling pleasures and baubles of a world, which is at best uncertain and every moment passing away, should usurp and occupy as their right the throne of the heart, while the voice of the Eternal, in the accents of mercy, is inviting the attention to the imperishable pleasures of religion; that the terrors of eternal perdition should be glaring on the one side, and the joys of Heaven inviting on the other, and yet that each should be disregarded with a sort of inveteracy that excludes the consideration and the thought of them;-in a word, that, while the smallest trifles will engage, and please, and agitate, and alarm the mind, the Great God should be the only being that excites no apprehension either of hope or of danger; and Eternity the only subject viewed without alarm; and the soul the only thing neglected;-argues a state of apostacy and alienation from the Supreme Benefactor, which may well excite bis anger, while it is the fruitful source of all the misery of mankind.

Against such an infatuation, alarming Providences, (and among them the removal of one after another by death,) are constantly and powerfully making their appeal.

It was not until within a few minutes of the commencement of the afternoon service, that she complained of a palpitation of the heart. This, however, was not so great as to excite in her any alarm. She attended the public worship as usual, and was waiting in the vestry, while her worthy father and mother were partaking of the appointed memorial of their dying Lord, when the fatal signal was given; and Death, without a moment's delay or a moment's warning, hastened to execute his gloomy commission.

The impression of an event, at once so awful and so unexpected, was not less extraordinary than the event itself. The kind and respectable family, of which she had been so long an ornament and a comfort, was plunged into the deepest grief. The whole town was filled with solemnity. The congregation and the

was.'

That outward morality, amiable and excellent as it is, and deserving of universal imitation, may exist without a saving acquaintance with Jesus Christ, and a living faith in him as an atoning sacrifice, is readily admitted. In her case, however, there is great reason to rejoice that it was not unaccompanied by those other circumstances which give a definite and decided cast to the character. She had a powerful attachment to the house and the people of God. She was seen, when she was not aware that any eye was upon her, but the eye of Him" that seeth in secret,"―engaged in prayer. The books she selected as her choicest treasure, were such as had to do with God and Eternity. And among the manuscripts which she left behind, was the following Hymn, which was sung at the close of the funeral sermon, into the spirit of which she appears so much to have entered, that she copied it; the bare copying of which is sufficiently indicative of her approbation of it,the knowledge she had of the dying love of the blessed Jesus, and the desire she felt to be interested in that love for ever.

church in particular felt the shock. | could not be more correct than it Every countenance and every conversation seemed to unite and sayIt is the voice of the Lord' it is the hand of the Lord.' The affecting Providence was improved by a funeral discourse on the following Sabbath afternoon, from that prayer of the Psalmist, (Psalm cix. 27.) "That they may know that this is thy hand; that thou, Lord, hast done it!" In an event of this description, however, one of the first questions which arises in a pious mind, has to do with the prepared or unprepared state of the individual, who was thus suddenly called to appear with her account before the supreme Tribunal. And it is a source of no small satisfaction, that to such an inquiry we can give a favourable reply. She was not in communion with us; nor was there any positive evidence, arising from any outward professions of her love to Christ; but such were the circumstantial proofs of it as warrant the most pleasing conclusions concerning the present and now unalterable condition of her soul. To these I shall give no colouring of my own, but simply state them, as the uniform testimony of her father, and mother, and governess, and friends, added to my own personal knowledge of her for little short of twelve years.

In obedience to her parents, and a strict and inviolable regard to truth, she was an example somewhat extraordinary, and to which it is much to be wished there were no exceptions. Neither her father nor her mother can remember a single act of wilful disobedience, or a single instance of falsehood at any time of her life. They never saw her temper improperly ruffled by anger, nor do they remember to have heard an improper expression proceed from her lips; so unusually placid, serene, and meek was her natural disposition. To use the words of one, who had always been with her, and whose knowledge of what is necessary to form the Christian character, is as accurate as that of any one I know," Sir," said he," whether

she was converted or not, conversion could have made no difference in her outward deportment. It

"Calm as the Summer's setting sun,

Let my last moments be;
And, when my work on earth is done,
Receive me, Lord, to thee.

2

Let no dark cloud o'erspread my mind,
When hence my spirit flies;
But let me heavenly comforts find
T'allure me to the skies.

3.

One favour more I humbly crave

Thy glory to extend,
Let me proclaim thy power to sare
Till death my labours end.

4.

And, when my final breath draws near,
Permit my tongue to tell

How saints, through Christ, surmount
their fear,

And conquer Death and Hell."

Such was the end of the mortal career of one, who, on the morning of the day on which she died, bade as fair to live as any now alive. O could some messenger from the other world but have whispered in