"The parting spirit had a long and difficult struggle to get free. Her iron constitution,' as she termed it, made a natural resistance to death, as it had kept up a long fight with disease. The result of this conflict shows how little can be gathered from the mere circumstance of what is called dying easy;' one condition alone is required for a safe and peaceful departure, -For thou art with me.' Psalm xxiii. 4.

"On Sunday, Oct. 14, she expressed that she was suffering great pain,'' all over,'-' shaken to death.' But, at the same time, she was perfectly conscious; of which there were many proofs. That night, her nephew, Mr Thomas Eden, (who had for some time been one of her kind medical attendants,) sat up with her, thinking she was very near death. On Monday, the pain, all over,' as she said, increased most dreadfully; so that her screams and moans were distressing, and the tossing of her arms was violent and incessant. She still however knew every body,-looked at each with signs of clear recognition, and called them by name. Besides great pain, the shaking of her frame was violent, so that persons were obliged to sit on each side, to hold down her arms with pillows. Her medical attendant made the remark, that there was not a muscle or tendon exempt from agitation. About twelve, on Monday night, the violent pain seemed in some measure to abate. On Tuesday, her eyes appeared more fixed; yet she still recognized, and cast an expressive look, first on one, and then on another. turning her head, she accidentally caught sight of a portrait of the Bishop of Calcutta, and said, 'Dear Bishop!' which proved that she was still able to distinguish objects. Afterwards a stupor came on, and she seemed to lose sensibility to every thing. Her frame became more quiet, and she lay breathing less and less strongly. About three o'clock in the afternoon, the Rev. Dr Fearon came in, and seeing her in the act of departure, he immediately knelt down, and said, 'Let us commend her spirit,' and shortly after, it was perceived that she had ceased to breathe."

In

Thus have we traced the life of an eminent Christian trained up in the school of affliction through a protracted series of years, and evincing, by her whole deportment, that she had ample reason to bless God for all her trials. Had our space permitted, we should have liked to re-trace the various steps of her Christian progress, quickened and animated as she was by a succession of sufferings of various kinds, extending through a lengthened period of thirty years. But we forbear, and simply conclude by strongly recommending the volume on which our sketch has been founded. It is a precious mine of Christian experience developed under circumstances of sore adversity, such as are not unfrequently the lot of God's chosen people in this valley of tears.

CHRISTIAN QUEEN OF CLOVIS THE FRANK.

ABOUT the year 496, Clovis, king of the Franks, was baptized, and received into the general church. He himself, perfidious, ambitious, and cruel, was no honour to any religious denomination. But some remarkable circumstances in providence attended his reception of Christianity. The Franks, or French, were a German nation known long before, who dwelt about the lower Rhine. Having passed this river, they entered into Gaul under the conduct of Pharamond, their first king, about the year 420. Clodio, Merovæus, Childeric, and Clovis, reigned in succession after him. Like the rest of the barbarous nations who desolated the lower empire, they still advanced gradually in conquests, and Clovis ruined the Roman power entirely in Gaul. But it was his destiny to contend with other barbarous invaders all of whom he, however, subdued at length,

and by much carnage and violence he became the founder of the French monarchy. Wicked as he was, he was fitted to become a useful instrument of providence, like Henry VIII. of England, many ages after. He had married Clotilda, niece of Gondeband, king of the Burgundians; she was zealous for the doctrine of the Trinity, though both her uncle and the whole nation of the Burgundians professed Arianism. Could her private history be known, it would probably be instructive and edifying. For what else but the grace of God and the effectual operation of his Spirit, could induce a royal lady, brought up among heretics, and given in marriage to a powerful pagan, to persevere alone so firmly in the apostolical faith, in an age when divine truth had scarcely a single patron of great power in Europe? Having a son by her husband Clovis, she endeavoured to persuade him to permit the child to be baptized, and earnestly reasoned with him on the vanity of his idols, and preached Christianity to him with much sincerity. Clovis, who it seems had great affection for his queen, consented at length to the baptism of the infant, but he died in a few days after. Clovis in a rage declared, "I have lost my child because he has been devoted to your deities; had he been devoted to mine he would have lived." The pious queen answered, "I thank God, who has thought me worthy to bear a child whom he has called into his kingdom.' She had afterwards another son, who was baptized by the name of Clodomer. On his falling sick, the king said, Yes, I see he will die like his brother, because he has been baptized in the name of your Christ." The mother prayed for his recovery, and the child was restored to health. Clotilda persevering in her exhortations, Clovis heard them patiently, but remained still inflexible. It pleased God at length to give him a striking lesson, from which he ought to have learned the true art of happiness. Fighting with the Alemanni, he was upon the point of being entirely defeated. Finding himself in the utmost danger, he lifted up his eyes to heaven with tears, and said, "O Jesus Christ, whom Clotilda affirms to be the Son of the living God, I implore thy aid. If thou givest me victory, I will believe and be baptized, for I have called upon my gods in vain." While he was speaking, the Alemanni turned their backs and began to flee, and at length submitted and craved quarter.

Penetrated with a sense of divine goodness, as many wicked men have been for a time, Clovis submitted to the instructions of Remi, bishop of Rheims, whom the queen sent to teach him. The chief difficulty he started was, that his people would not follow him in his change of religion. This was obviated by the facility with which they received Remi's lessons. What the lessons were, and what exercises of mind and conscience attended the change, we know not; the external circumstances and forms alone we are informed of, and they are not very instructive. The king himself was baptized at Rheims, and so was his sister, and three thousand of his army. prince who professed orthodox Christianity. Anasta He was at that time the only sius, the Eastern Emperor, favoured heresy, the rest of the European princes were Arians. Thus a woman husband; it is true the change was only nominal, but was employed as the instrument of a change in her it was followed by very signal effects in Europe, namely, by the recovery of the apostolical faith, and, no doubt, by the happy conversion of many individuals.-Milner's Church History.

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THE portion of Scottish ecclesiastical history to which the attention of the reader has been directed in the First Series of this Publication, teaches some most important lessons, and furnishes some topics for serious reflection. At a very early period, the truths of the Gospel were introduced into the northern part of this island in all their purity; and we had to observe, on the one hand, their rise and progress, and, on the other, their gradual degeneracy and corruption. It was long before the authority of the Bishop of Rome was acknowledged by the Scottish clergy; but the rites and ceremonies of the Romish Church took the place of that simpler service which had received the sanction of Christ and his apostles. The overthrow of the Culdee institutions formed the prelude to a change in the forms of worship, and in the constitution and government of the Church; yet the bishops of Scotland were slow in surrendering their independence. At length the Bishop of Rome succeeded in placing his yoke upon their neck; they forgot the stern resistance with which their fathers met all his encroachments, and perhaps in no part of Europe was his sway submitted to with more passive feelings. It is worthy of observation, that wherever Popery universally prevails, ignorance and irreligion are its uniform attendants. In whatever form of religion external rites occupy the place of that worship which springs from the heart, and bodily exercise is held to be of more importance than that godliness which is profitable unto all things, and the pardon of sin is represented, not as a thing obtained by the blood of the "Mediator between God and man," but as a matter of barter on the part of a grasping priesthood, there every restraint is trodden down, and wickedness is practised without scruple and without remorse. These are the characteristics of Popery; and their effects were experienced in Scotland, in all their extent. The No. 5. FEB. 2, 1839.-1d.]

Culdees, indeed, continued to instruct the people in the doctrines of the Bible, and did not entirely disappear from the land till the times of Resby and Cranmer; but, as was to be expected, their followers were few; for the people of Scotland, in all ages, have acknowledged the influence of an establishment. Still, a ray of light penetrated the gloom of the popish worship, even in the darkest hour of ignorance and superstition, and a few of God's chosen ones were found in the straths and glens of the land of our fathers. It is gratifying to know, that its remotest districts, and its upland wilds, were cheered by the reading of the Word, and the voice of prayer and of praise. In secret, the friends of true religion sought their God; for they easily apprehended the danger of openly dissenting from the Church of Rome; but the time was at hand when the throne of St. Peter was to be shaken, and when the cry, from the one end of Europe to the other, was for the religion of the Bible.

The

To every reader who is at all acquainted with the early history of Christianity in Scotland, it cannot fail to be known, that the doctrines which Luther so strenuously defended were maintained and professed in Scotland before the beginning of the sixteenth century. It is only necessary to glance over the thirty-four articles which constituted the accusation of the Lollards of Kyle, as given by Knox, or the twenty, as given by Spottiswoode, to be convinced of this fact. authority of the Pope is distinctly questioned ; they deny that he is the successor of St. Peter, and they maintain that he deceives the people by his bulls and indulgences. These and similar doctrines were the leaven which was about to leaven the whole lump. Even after the time or Blackadder, whose death took place in the year 1500, the opinions of the Lollards were very secretly maintained, and they seem to have been SECOND SERIES. VOL. I.

of the Church. After Luther had separated from the Romish Church, the Scottish elergy began to feel some alarm about the spreading of the new opinions, as they were then termed, and they had sufficient influence to get an act of Parliament passed in 1525 prohibiting the importation of any books of Luther or his disciples into Scotland, which that act somewhat emphatically declared to have been always "clere of all sic filth and vice." Dr M'Crie justly observes, that in all probability such books had been already introduced into this country.

Hitherto the opinions of the Lollards or of Luther had not been adopted by any person of influence or learning in the country, but the time had arrived when they were to receive the sanction and powerful support of one of the Romish clergy. Patrick Hamilton, a young man related to the royal family, had early imbibed a taste for the new opinions. In his childhood he had been appointed abbot of Ferne, in Ross-shire, and was educated at St. Andrews under the celebrated John Mair. He was taught to detect and despise the subtilties of the scholastic philosophy, and his mind displayed that freshness and vigour which is the result of deep acquaintance with the literature of ancient times. At a very early period he was suspected of heresy, and was summoned before a council; but as his opinions were not then sufficiently matured, he retired to the continent. As might be expected, he repaired to Wittenberg, and obtained the friendship of Luther and Medancthon. After he had spent some time at Wittenberg, these eminent men gave him a recommendation to Lambert, Principal of the University of Marpurg. Lambert was deeply learned and eminently pious, and was at great pains in teaching Hamilton the doctrines of the Bible. So soon as he discovered the truth, his character underwent a thorough change; he was formerly doubtful and timid, but all doubts and fears had fled away, and he displayed all the courage of a champion of the Gospel. He would now return to Scotland to enlighten his countrymen; and notwithstanding the entreaties, and even tears of his kind instructor, he embarked in the year 1527, and arrived safely in Scotland. He began his career of instructing the people, and proclaimed, in the plainest terms, the way of salvation by Christ. But the clergy watched all his movements, and they caused him to be arrested and cast into prison. Attempts were made to induce him to give up disturbing the tranquillity of the Church, but he would listen to no compromise. He viewed the tranquillity of the Church as the calm of spiritual death, and defended his doctrines with such earnestness and knowledge of the Bible, that he was the means of converting Aless, a Popish priest, who had visited him for the purpose of bringing about a change in his opinions. As nothing else would do, he was condemned to be burned, and was led to the stake. His demeanour in this hour of fearful trial was that of

of the saints and martyrs of Jesus. When he was on the scaffold, he turned to the man who had been long his servant, and stripped off his gown, coat, and cap, and desired him to receive all that he had of worldly goods, and along with them the example of his death. "What I am about to suffer, my dear friend," said he, “ appears fearful and bitter to the flesh, but remember, it is the entrance to everlasting life, which none shall possess who deny their Lord.”* His torments were great and protracted, but he exhorted those around him to seek the Gospel of Christ, for which he was that day brought to an excruciating death. His meekness and patience made a deep impression on all present. He exclaimed, with his eyes raised to heaven, "How long, O God, shall darkness cover this kingdom! How long wilt thou suffer this tyranny of men!" He expired as he uttered these words,-“ Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." The leading doctrines of this holy martyr were contained in a small volume, written in Latin, which has been translated by Fox, and introduced into his Book of Martyrs. It is said to be quaint and obscure, but proves Hamilton to have made higher attainments than were to be found in Scotland in that age. Archbishop Beatoun condemned Patrick Hamilton to the flames, but the object for which this foul deed was committed was not obtained. The new opinions spread with amazing rapidity, and in the next generation the Popish superstition, the Papal authority, and prelacy itself entirely disappeared in Scotland.

One circumstance connected with the death of Hamilton must not be omitted. One Alexander Campbell was directed to get into his company, obtain his confidence, and ascertain the precise nature of his religious principles. This man was a Dominican friar, and much attached to his order; he was, moreover, a person of good talents and accomplishments. In his conversations with Hamilton he freely admitted that many things in the Church required to be reformed, and drew from him his opinions and views, with which he expressed his entire satisfaction, but speedily reported to the clergy all that he heard, and put a malicious construction on the sentiments of one who had unbosomed himself in all the unsuspecting confidence of friendship. When Hamilton was brought to the stake, he was annoyed by the friars, and chiefly by Campbell, to retract, and when he would not cease, he said to him, " Wicked man, thou knowest I am not an heretic, and that it is the truth of God for which I now suffer; so much thou didst confess to me in private, and thereupon I appeal thee to answer before the judgment-seat of Christ." These words were remembered, when this faithless friend was found to be overwhelmed with terror at the solemnity of the summons; he lost all relish for the enjoyments of life, became insane, and died at Glasgow about a year after in a state of utter desperation. This

*Tytler's History of Scotland, vol. v., page 213.

remarkable circumstance impressed the people with the strongest convictions that Patrick Hamilton died a martyr to the truth.

THE following verses were addressed by the late MRS WILSON of Bombay to her little boy, on observing his countenance sad when the Ayah was singing to him a Hindustani song :—

THOU'RT as a beam of light,

A rainbow in the storm,

But quickly o'er thy brow so bright
Comes sorrow's darkening forin;
Now shall I bid thy fears away,
And we shall sing a sweeter lay:
We'll sing of love divine,

In yonder radiant spheres,
Where endless light and beauty shine
'Midst all their happy years,
Where all is pure, and calm, and bright,
Eternity's unclouded light.

Thy brother there doth stand
With angel harp and voice,
Amid the holy saintly band
Who in the Lord rejoice.
His joy shall never pass away,-
His crown of gold shall ne'er decay.
And thou art loved in heaven

By all the blissful choirs,
While spirits bright come down at even
With their celestial lyres,
To hover o'er thine infant head
And keep their watch around thy bed.
Sleep on thy mother's breast;

Thy dreams shall be of joy,
In some far distant realms of rest,
Where pains do not annoy.
Then let me bid thy fears away,
And let me sing a sweeter lay.

THE SEASONS, AS KNOWN TO THE HEBREW S.

BY THE REV. DAVID MITCHELL.

SEED-TIME.

THE seasons were observed by the Hebrews with a reference to agricultural pursuits. They were treated by the inspired penmen and the Jewish rabbins in connection with the labours of the husbandman. These periods were six in number: "Seed-time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter." To convey to the mind a proper conception of the sons of Jacob at these respective seasons, we will require to be reminded that the Jews were a numerous people, and occupied a fertile portion of the dominions which God had given to man. Canaan was a fruitful land, a land which the Lord had chosen, and a land which the Lord had blessed. The curse of Eden seems for a time to have been, in a great measure, removed, and the earth yielded her increase. Every portion was productive, the mountain as well as the valley. The rugged rock brought forth as well as the slanting declivity. Corn was produced in handfuls on the lofty summit, the choice wheat loaded the fruitful vale, lentiles and beans were abundant. The vine mantled the sunny plain and the mountain side; the olive sprung out of the barren crag, and men did suck oil from the flinty rock. In the days of prosperity, every eligible

spot was cultivated, and every portion was productive. The rugged eminence was not neglected, nor the alluvial bank by the flowing stream. Maundrell, when describing the marks of cultivation on the heights of Palestine, says, "For the husbanding these mountains, their manner was to gather up the stones, and place them in several lines, along the sides of the hills, in the form of a wall. By such borders they supported the mould from tumbling or being washed down, and formed many beds of excellent soil, rising gradually one above another, from the bottom to the top of the mountains. Of this form of culture you see evident footsteps wherever you go in all the mountains of Palestine. Thus the very rocks were made fruitful. The hills, though improper for all cattle except goats, yet being disposed into such beds as are before described, served very well to bear corn, melons, gourds, cucumbers, and such like garden stuffs, which makes the principal food of these countries several months in the year. The most rocky parts of all, which could not well be adjusted in that manner for the production of corn, might yet serve for the plantation of vines and olive-trees, which delight to extract, the one its fulness, and the other its sprightly juice, chiefly out of such dry and finty places."

Canaan, in its present deserted and barren condition, still evinces numerous tests of fertility. Many things spring up as a spontaneous production without any culture. Grain has been discovered shooting forth on the grassy bank without the aid of the husbandman. Travellers have found barley and oats growing in a wild state about Mount Tabor. This, indeed, is not peculiar to Palestine. The soil in the kingdom of Siam produces rice year after year without any culture, and wheat was found, some time ago, growing spontaneously on Mount Etna in Sicily. The Holy Land, in spite of the sluggish indolence of the Turk, the ravages of war, and the rapacious hand of the tyrant, continues to bring forth valuable productions. Wheat, barley, millet, cotton, and tobacco have been mentioned, and trees and shrubs of various kinds have been enumerated; the apple, the fig-tree, the vine, the olive, the pomegranate, the citron, the aloe, the cypress, the cedar, the sycamore, the mulberry-tree, the arbutus, the aspen, the acacia, the turpentine-tree, the oleander, the tamarisk, the almond-tree, the myrtle-tree, the mustard-plant, the locust-tree, the peach-tree, and the palm-tree. The last mentioned was highly prized by the Hebrews, and considered by them and the surrounding nations as an emblem of Palestine. Several coins of Vespasian and other Roman emperors "are extant, in which Judea is personified as a disconsolate female, sitting under a palm-tree."

We have already said that Canaan was densely peopled. The Hebrews' small canton, at present forming part of Syria, about two hundred miles in length and ninety in breadth, contained multitudes as the sand upon the sea-shore. On their journey to take possession of the promised inheritance, they could number six hundred thousand able men, which leads us to conclude that there must have been upwards of two millions of people. In the days of David and Solomon there appears to have been about five millions. In the time of Josephus the province of Galilee alone could produce a hundred thousand warriors. This posses