angelic beings, are but symbols and figures of the true, and will at a destined period, pass away, and give place to new heavens; nor will it consist simply in a spiritual communion with the Father of Spirits, without any certain locality;-for men will still be embodied, and enjoying a certain corporeal proximity to Christ, after the likeness of whose glorious body they will be fashioned, having "spiritual bodies," and whether with any remnant of materiality we know not-but their future life will be ON THE NEW EARTH AND IN THE HOLY CITY.

One of the latest flights of scientific conjecture is the following, by Sir David Brewster, in his eloquent advocacy of the doctrine of "More Worlds than One," arguing for their peopling, as the Abodes of the Blest:

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Man, in his future state of existence, is to consist, as at present, of a spiritual nature residing in a corporeal frame. He must live, therefore, upon a material planet, subject to all the laws of matter, and performing functions for which a material body is indispensable. We must consequently find for the race of Adam, if not races that may have preceded him, a material home upon which they may reside, or by which they may travel, by means unknown to us, to other localities in the universe. At the present hour, the inhabitants of the earth are nearly a thousand millions; and by whatever process we may compute the numbers that have existed before the present generation, and estimate those that are yet to inherit the earth, we shall obtain a population which the habitable parts of our globe could not possibly accommodate. If there is not room, then, on our earth for the millions of millions of beings who have lived and died upon its surface, and who may yet live and die during the period fixed for its occupation by man, we can scarcely doubt that their future abode must be on some of the primary or secondary planets of the solar system, whose inhabitants have ceased to exist like those on the earth, or upon planets in our own or in other systems which have been in a state of preparation, as our earth was, for the advent of intellectual life.

Adversaria.

* STUDY OF THE BIBLE.

How utterly impossible it would be in the manhood of the world, to imagine any other instructor of mankind-than the Bible. And for that reason, every day makes it more and more evident that the thorough study of the Bible, the investigation of what it teaches and what it does not teach, the determination of the limits of what we mean by its inspiration, the determination of the degree of authority to be ascribed to the different books, if any degrees are to be admitted, must take the lead of all other studies. He is guilty of high treason against the faith who fears the result of any investigation, whether philosophical, or scientific, or historical. And therefore nothing should be more welcome than the extension of knowledge of any and of every kind-for every increase in our accumulations of knowledge, throws fresh light upon the real problems of the day. If geology proves to us that we must not interpret the first chapters of Genesis literally; if historical investigation shall show us that inspiration, however it may protect the doctrine, yet was not empowered to protect the narrative of the inspired writers from occasional inaccuracy; if careful criticism shall prove that there have been occasionally interpolations and forgeries in that Book, as in many others; the results should still be welcome. Even the mistakes of careful and reverent students are more valuable now than truth held in unthinking acquiescence. The substance of the teaching which we derive from the Bible will not really be affected by anything of this sort; while its hold upon the minds of believers, and its power to stir the depths of the spirit of man, however much weakened at first, must be immeasurably strengthened in the end, by clearing away blunders which may have been fastened on it by human interpretation.

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Though the study of the Bible must be for the present and for some time the centre of all studies, there is meanwhile no study of whatever kind which will not have its share in the general effect. At this time, in the maturity of mankind, as with man in the maturity of his powers, the great lever which moves the world is knowledge, the great force is the intellect. St. Paul has told * For these two extracts the editor is indebted to Essays and Reviews.

us "that though in malice we must be children, in understanding we ought to be men.' And this saying of his has the widest range. Not only in the understanding of religious truth, but in all the exercise of the intellectual powers, we have no right to stop short of any limit but that which nature, that is, the decree of the Creator, has imposed on us. In fact, no knowledge can be without its effect on religious convictions; for if not capable of throwing direct light on some spiritual questions, yet in its acquisition knowledge invariably throws light on the process by which it is to be, or has been, acquired, and thus affects all other knowledge of every kind.

If we have made mistakes, careful study may teach us better. If we have quarrelled about words, the enlightenment of the understanding is the best means to show us our folly. If we have vainly puzzled our intellects with subjects beyond human cognizance, better knowledge of ourselves will help us to be humbler. Life, indeed, is higher than all else; and no service that man can render to his fellows, is to be compared with the heavenly power of a life of holiness. But next to that must be ranked whatever tends to make men think clearly and judge correctly. So valuable, even above all things (excepting only godliness), is clear thought, that the labours of the statesman are far below those of the philosopher in duration, in power, and in beneficial results. Thought is now higher than action, unless action be inspired with the very breath of heaven. For we are now men, governed by principles, if governed at all, and cannot rely any longer on the impulses of youth, or the discipline of childhood. We quote these able remarks from Dr. Temple's Education.

Professor Jowett, in a paper on the Religious Tendencies of the Age, observes:

There is a wide distinction between the interpretation and the application of Scripture. The latter is of much wider extent than the former. "Interpretation is the province of few; it requires a finer perception of language, and a higher degree of cultivation, than is attained by the majority of mankind. But applications are made by all, from the philosopher reading God in History, tọ the poor woman who finds in them a response to her prayers, and the solace of her daily life. In the hour of death we do not want critical explanations; in most cases those to whom they would be offered are incapable of understanding them. A few words, breathing the whole sense of the Christian world, such as 'I know that my Redeemer liveth,' (though the exact meaning of them may be doubtful to the Hebrew scholar); 'I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me;' touch a chord which would never be reached by the most skilful exposition of the argument of one of St. Paul's Epistles."

Serpent Worship.

SERPENT WORSHIP.

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There is scarcely a heathen nation that has not adopted some deity in the form of a serpent. Among those who were foremost in this form of idolatry, were the Egyptians, who built chapels underground, where they carefully fed and worshipped them. In the time of Herodotus, serpents were kept tame at Thebes, adorned with jewels, and consecrated to Jupiter. When they died they were buried with divine honours, and placed in urns in the temple of Jupiter. And, according to Elian, they were admitted into the houses of the Egyptians, and there treated as household gods. It is said that Jotham, king of Israel, built much on the wall of Ophel, that is, the serpent God; and this animal was the form under which the Cnaphis or Agathodæmon of the Egyp tian pantheon was worshipped by the inhabitants of the Thebaid.

But, although this creature was worshipped by many nations in the east, the Babylonians, Arabians, Scythians, Phoenicians, Macedonians, and many others; yet in India, and more particularly on the coast of Malabar, this form of worship attained its greatest height of absurdity. The king of Calicut, who was formerly the most powerful of all the Malabar princes, and whose title was no less than "God upon earth," was so much enslaved by the worship of this creature as to have temples built purposely for them, where they were held sacred and made the guardians of all their houses, persons, and property. So highly was the serpent considered in the east that, wherever it was figured or painted, the place was held sacred, and the ground consecrated; and the most exalted honour that could be conferred upon a hero was to style him "born of a serpent.' Thus, Alexander the Great, who suffered himself to be called God, and Scipio Africanus, were both said to be born of serpents. So likewise was the companion of Cadmus, the giant in Homer, and a certain prophet in Pausanias; nay, whole tribes went by the name of serpent. This was the case with some people inhabiting Cyprus and around the Hellespont. Even in the primitive church there was a sect called Ophites, because they worshipped the serpent that betrayed Eve, and therefore ascribed supernatural knowledge to that animal.

But the most probable origin of Serpent-worship would seem to take its rise in the corrupt and perverted constructions which were put upon the history of Adam and Eve by heathen nations, many of which seem to have received sufficient intimation of this event, and of the record made by Moses, to account for many strange perversions which we read of in mythology. Indeed, in the

* Eutropius, lib. ii. He states also that another serpent was worshipped in a tower at Miletus, in Egypt, where there was a priest and other officers attending it. It was fed daily with meal and honey.

Phoenician theology the creation is described almost in the same manner as that of the pentateuch.

SYMBOLICAL FIGURES FROM NINEVEH.

The visitor to the British Museum who curiously examines the winged bulls, lions, and other mysterious figures from Nineveh, can scarcely fail to be convinced that they are not mere sculptural ornaments but symbols of certain mysteries and ceremonies of the primeval religion of Assyria. The era of these sculptures is so remote, and the traditions respecting them so obscure, that the inquiry into their signification is difficult, and the conclusions arrived at unsatisfactory: still some attempt has been made to penetrate the mystery which surrounds them. The chief mythological figures are the winged bull with a man's face; the winged lion with a man's face; the winged man with a fir-cone in one hand and a square basket or vessel in the other; and a man with the head and wings of an eagle or hawk. The hypothesis which Mr. Ravenshaw, in a paper read to the Asiatic Society, maintains with respect to them is, that they are, as already surmised by Mr. Layard, the originals of the cherubim of Ezekiel; that they were likewise the originals of the apocalyptic beasts of St. John; and that, slightly modified, they were afterwards adopted, and are now used, as the symbols of the four Evangelists. Further, that they were originally invented by the Magi and Chaldeans as astronomical symbols of the equinoctial and solstitial points; that they represent in fact the four seasons-spring, summer, autumn, and winter; and perhaps also the four winds and the four elements.

In support and illustration of these views, the writer enters into an examination of the passages in the Old Testament and in other writings, regarding the cherubim, showing that there is no authority in Scripture for supposing them to be bodiless infants, and comes to the conclusion that the face of a cherub was in reality the face of a bull. At an early period of the Christian Church these winged animals were adopted as the symbols of the Four Evangelists. The winged lion was assigned to St. Mark, as the symbol of strength; the winged ox to St. Luke, as the symbol of sacrifice; the eagle and chalice to St. John, as the symbol of contemplation; and the winged man with a cup and hatchet to St. Matthew, as the symbol of power. The employment of these figures as astronomical symbols formed the next branch of inquiry, and the conclusions were that the colossal bulls are symbols of the sun in Taurus, or the vernal equinox; that the winged man is Mitra or Serosh, the guardian of the autumnal equinox; and the winged man-lion and eagle-headed man the symbols of the solstices, being the four cherubim who watched the gates of Heaven, and upheld the Zodiac.