grapes as from the colouring matter of the skins or husks. Isinglas or gypsum, or Toledo earth, is put into the casks to clear the wine. Brandy is usually added. The wine is run off many times from one cask to another; and after being thus treated for a year or two, it is ready for the market.

The wine usually called Madeira is not made from any one particular grape, but from all the kinds which grow in the island mixed together, without any regular proportion, just as they happen to have been growing; consequently Madeira wines differ very much from one another, according to the prevalence of the different kinds of grapes used in making them.

One cannot witness the processes at the wine-press, without feeling that the dealings of God, of which they are made the figure, must be dealings in judgment. And so they are represented throughout all the Scriptures. Thus you find the sufferings of Jerusalem described by Jeremiah (Lam. i. 15): “The Lord hath trodden the virgin, the daughter of Judah, as in a wine-press." And there is a terrible prophecy yet awaiting fulfilment (Rev. xiv. 18-20): Another angel. . . . . cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe. And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great wine-press of the wrath of God. And the wine-press was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs."

.....

Connected with all the vineyards throughout the island, are usually such wine-presses as I have mentioned, but seldom any conveniences for storing and preparing the wines. As soon, therefore, as the must comes from the press, it is, for the most part, sent into Funchal, to the wine stores there. It is carried on men's shoulders, in goat skins. The skin of the female alone can be used. It is taken off the animal entire; nothing is cut away but the head and feet, and the hairy side is turned in. In the vintage season, you meet, on all the approaches to Funchal, bands of six, ten, twenty, or more men, loaded with skins of wine, and singing a sort of chant as they proceed. Each man carries about fifteen gallons in his goat skin. Even little boys are sometimes to be seen, in this busy season, carrying their kid skins with their load. After having delivered their wine in the town, they blow out their skins with air like a bladder, and march off to the country for another load; each man swinging an immense goat, but without head or feet, at the end of his stick-the skins when filled with air assuming, of course, the exact shape of the living animal.

It is only the wine grown within six or eight miles of Funchal, and on the same side of the island, that can be thus brought into the town in skins as it comes from the press. That produced in more distant quarters is brought in pipes by the sea. The beach at Funchal is open, and there is no quay. When the boats arrive, therefore, they are anchored a short distance from the shore, in pretty deep water. The pipes of wine are tumbled one by one into the sea, and being specifically lighter than salt water, they float. Men and boys are swimming about, very

nearly naked, who lay hold on the floating pipes, and push them to the shore, where oxen and sledges, led as far into the water as they can venture, are waiting for them. The scene is altogether a very extraor dinary one to a stranger, and withal very lively and very noisy.

3. In many places of Scripture we read of threshing-floors. The threshing-floor is to be seen all over the island of Madeira. It consists of a circular piece of level ground in the open air, and in as exposed a situation as can conveniently be obtained, for the sake of the wind. It is surrounded by large flat stones, set edge-wise, and the bottom is beaten hard and made as smooth as possible. The threshing immediately follows the reaping. The grain is carried from the field to the threshing-floor, and spread in open sheaf on it, as in this country. A couple of oxen are turned in, and driven round and round, till they have beaten out the grain with their feet. Sometimes one of the sledges of the country is yoked to them to facilitate the operation, and the driver sits on it to add to the weight. The rule of the Mosaic law is uniformly observed (Deut. xxv. 4) : The oxen are never muzzled when they are treading out the corn.

This process greatly breaks the straw; and, therefore, when the straw is wanted for thatching the cottages, the grain is separated from it by taking the corn in handfuls by the roots, and knocking it against large stones, or by the women beating it with wooden mallets. When the grain has been separated from the straw, it is cleansed from the chaff, by being thrown up against the wind with large wooden shovels, any more complicated machinery being unknown. Till within a comparatively recent period, this was the method of winnowing corn in use among ourselves; and its antiquity is shown by many passages of Scripture, among others by Isa. xxx. 24: "The oxen likewise and the young asses that ear the ground, shall eat clean provender, which hath been winnowed with the shovel and with the fan."

In some countries-in Barbary, for instancehorses are more generally employed than oxen on the threshing-floors. A strong stake is fixed in the middle of the floor, and a movable iron ring is slipped over it. To this ring two or three horses are fastened by a cord, which can be lengthened er shortened at pleasure, so as to make the horses describe a smaller or larger circle as may be required; and they are driven round the floor till the work is accomplished.

THE SCRIBES, THE SYNAGOGUES, AND THE SCHOOLS. BESIDES the Priests, Levites, and Prophets, we read of other teachers which existed in the Jewish Church in the times of our Saviour, apparently with the divine sanction, and probably by the divine appointment. These were the Scribes and the various offcers of the synagogues. In the synagogues Christ and the apostles taught and acknowledged the autho rity of the officers presiding over them. And of the Scribes, our Saviour said: "The Scribes and Phari

sees sit in Moses' seat: all therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do ye not after their works; for they say and do not.”

The Sopherim or Scribes are met with in the Sacred Writings previous to the captivity. The verb o signifies to number and to write-o is the Hebrew word for book. The Scribes, therefore, were persons employed in some way about books, writings, or accounts-in transcribing, reading, explaining, or correcting them. There were, however, scribes civil and Scribes ecclesiastical. In the earlier Scriptures the is the secretary of state, who issues the royal commissions. Sometimes the Sopherim seem to have been military officers-inspectors-general of the army. In the later writings, the Sopher or Scribe is one skilled in the Scriptures-one learned in the law. It is said of Ezra that he was a ready Scribe in the law of Moses, which the Lord God of Israel had given. It is with; these Scribes-ecclesiastical alone that we are now concerned. These alone we recognise in the yeaμparts of the New Testament. Their office grew gradually, though rapidly, into importance, after the common people had ceased to be acquainted with the Hebrew, in which the Jewish Scriptures were written. And the influence of these Scribes, as we see from the New Testament, was almost boundless. According to Lightfoot, O, Scribe, in the Talmuds denotes a learned man, and in this sense is opposed to the word ", rude or illiterate. But more particularly the Sopherim or Scribes were such as, being of learned and scholastic education, addicted themselves to the interpretation of the Sacred Scriptures. "Upon the whole," says Jennings, "the Scribes were the preaching clergy among the Jews, and while the priests attended the sacrifices, they instructed the people." The voxo and vousdidácnados, lawyers and teachers of the law, so often mentioned in the New Testament, are the same class of persons. These Scribes were not confined to any tribe. Nor were the learned teachers of the people necessarily of priestly descent. "Out of Zebulun came they that handled the pen of the writer." Hillel was of the tribe of Judah; Rabbi Simeon, and Gamaliel the teacher of Paul, and Paul himself, were of the tribe of Benjamin.

The synagogues were the models before the earliest Christians, according to which, by the Spirit's guidance, the first Churches were formed. Thrice a-year only did the Jews go up to the temple at Jerusalem to worship. The ordinary worship of the Sabbath was performed elsewhere, and these synagogues, of which the land was full, are the places where, on every Sabbath-day, the people were assembled for the ordinary worship of God. According to the Talmud, wherever there were ten Batlanim, or men of leisure, who would be responsible for the synagogue service, there a synagogue might be erected. According to some passages in the Talmudic books, there were four hundred and sixty, according to others four hundred and eighty, in the single city of Jerusalem. Making every allowance for Jewish hyperbole, we are still forced to believe that these places of religious worship and instruction were very nume

rous.

These synagogues had their officers, the principal of whom are copied in the pastor, elders, and deacons of the Christian Church. The ruler of the synagogue, xváywyos, presided over the assembly; and it Was necessary that he should be a learned man, and set apart by ordination to his office. And as the Christian Churches were formed upon the model of the synagogue, and mostly of persons who had been educated as Jews, what other view could they have had of the Christian ministry than that it should be a learned ministry? And as they were accustomed to have their graver matters of faith and discipline decided by a supreme judicature, the Great Sanhedrim, which was composed of educated men, it

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was necessary, to secure their respect, that the Presbyteries and Synods of the Christian Church should be composed, at least in a great degree, of men of cultivated mind.

Now the education of these several classes of men was effected by a long course of severe study. Schools of all kinds existed everywhere among the Jewish people. In every city and town, there was a school where children were taught to read the law; and if the establishment of these schools was neglected for any length of time, the men of the place were excommunicated until such time as a school was erected. Besides these, there were Midhrashoth 2, or schools of divinity, where the law was taught to those who resorted to them, and a thorough course of study in Jewish learning was pursued. The two famous and rival schools of Hillel and Schammai are the earliest of this special character of which we read in history, though other learned doctors doubtless preceded them. These Rabbins, whose scholars were always in conflict, differed in their mode of interpreting the law-Hillel enforcing obedience to its spirit, and Schammai to its letter. The grandson of Hillel was Gamaliel, the teacher of Paul the Apostle. The forms and arrangements of these schools have been handed down to us. The teacher was accustomed to sit on an elevated platform raised as high as the heads of his pupils. Hence it is said of Paul that he was brought up at the feet of Gamaliel. The teacher, at least in later times, had himself been previously educated in the schools, and by a formal ceremony had received the degree of Rabbi. This title was first conferred upon Simon the son of Hillel, but afterwards became, like the title Doctor of Philosophy in the Universities of Germany, and Master of Arts in our own, a common literary distinction. When a person had gone through the schools, and was thought worthy of the honour, he was seated in a chair elevated above the company, a key and tablets were given to him, he was ordained by imposition of hands performed by delegates of the Sanhedrim, and then he was proclaimed by the title however, omitted. The tablets denoted that he had Rabbi. The imposition of hands was sometimes, attained these honours by diligent attendance upon the lectures of the doctors, while the key was the

symbol of his authority to teach; it was "the key of Knowledge," and was afterwards worn by him as a badge of honour. These schools were held in buildings erected for their accommodation, which were called houses of study. The esteem in which the Jews held them is evident from the fact that on morning, and in the afternoon resorted to the school the Sabbath they attended on the synagogue in the

to hear a lecture from the Rabbi. And it was a common saying that "they might turn a synagogue into a school, but not a school into a synagogue; for the sanctity of a school is above the sanctity of a before the time of Christ, and during his ministry synagogue. The number of schools among the Jews and that of his apostles, and the number of pupils frequenting them, was certainly very great. Their school learning," Lightfoot informs us, at this time had arrived" at its height."-Howe.

THE REDEEMER'S PEOPLE. (Concluded.)

BY THE REV. ANDREW ELLIOT, FORD.

3. It is promised that the Redeemer, in the day of his power, should have a numerous people. "From the womb of the morning; thou hast the dew of thy youth." To some of our readers these

embraced Christ and his salvation! How tremendous the doom that awaits you, if you continue in this condition! Eternal perdition! everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power! But it is still the day of the Redeemer's power. He is waiting to be gracious. He is able, and he is willing to save you to save you to the very uttermost. He calls you, he invites you, he beseeches you to come to him and receive life -pardon and reconciliation here, and immortal blessedness above. And will you refuse? Will you spurn his authority, and despise his grace? Surely this cannot be your settled, determined purpose? You cannot seriously desire destruction; you cannot but wish salvation. Then seek it, and seek it without delay. " "To-day, if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts." Choose you now-this very day-whom you will serve." "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son, shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth upon him."

THE SPRING JOURNEY.

O GREEN was the corn as I rode on my way,
And bright were the dews on the blossoms of May,
And dark was the sycamore's shade to behold,
And the oak's tender leaf was of em'rald and gold.

The thrush from his holly, the lark from his cloud,
Their chorus of rapture sung jovial and loud;
From the soft vernal sky to the soft grassy ground
There was beauty above me, beneath, and around.

The mild southern breeze brought a shower from the hill,

And yet, though it left me all dripping and chill,
I felt a new pleasure, as onward I sped,

To gaze where the rainbow gleam'd broad over head.

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For it

"the love of money is the root of all evil." leads to pride and luxury, to injustice and fraud, families, to imperturbable hardness in the sight of to contention between nearest friends, to strife in human suffering, to absorbing selfishness, to the dislike of spiritual religion, to the neglect of secret prayer, to dangerous association with the world, to a useless life, and a doubtful death, to the loss of all generous sentiments, and the ruin of the immortal soul.

superfluities, or even for a thousand michievous inIf persons who have money to spare for a thousand dulgences, do almost nothing for the spiritual welfare of others, what a condemning contrast do they exhibit between their prayers and their conduct! Day by day they say, in the language of devout zeal: " Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on carth as it is in heaven." And while the devil reigns over the world with undisputed dominion, and under his power men in general openly disregard the will of God, they will do nothing to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God. Are their prayers real? Then why not strive to secure their accomplishment? Are they before the Omniscient. Either let men live to profalse? Then are they daily uttering that falsehood mote the kingdom of God, or cease to pray that it may come. If they will live so as to confirm the world's sensuality, scepticism, and ungodliness, then let them never more utter the petitions which they do not mean; and if they will not labour for the world's conversion, let them not pretend to pray for it.-Nocl.

BIBLE READING IN THE SIXTEENTH

CENTURY.

IN the year 1532, Thomas Harding, about Easter holidaies, when the other people went to the church, tooke his way into the woodes, there solitarily to worship the true living God in spirit and in truth. It chanced that one came in great haste to the officer of the towne declaring hee had seen Harding in the woodes looking on a Book, wereupon immediatelie ran desperately to his house to search for Bookes, and in searching went so nigh, that under the bords of his floor they found certain English Bookes of holy Scripture, whereupon this godly man, with his Bookes, was burnt as a relapsed heretic. Such as died in prison, we are told, were thrown out to dogs

even,

And our tears add a charm to the prospect of heaven! HEBER.

THE CHRISTIAN AND HIS MONEY. THERE are, in the Word of God, examples of the love of money, no less than the love of souls; but these are not such us should invite us to imitate them. The love of money made Balaam unite with the enemies of God, to his destruction; it made Achan violate an express command of the Almighty, which occasioned both his own death and that of all his family; through it Demas became an apostate; it occasioned the fatal lie of Ananias, and under its influence Judas betrayed our Lord into the hands of his enemies. These are not instances to tempt Christians uselessly to hoard up the wealth by which they might do abundant good; even if innumerable proofs were not furnished by every day's experience of the mischief which the love of money does to professed Christians and their children.

Not without reason has St Paul declared, that

all this mercilesse commandement, notwithstanding, som good men there were which buried those who were thrown out, in take sort whom they were wont privily by night to cover, and many times the archers in the fields standing by and singing together psalmes at their buriall.-Fox's Acts and Monuments.

Fragments.

THE body is the shell of the soul, and dress the husk of that shell; but the husk often tells what the kernel is.

THE nominal professions of religion with which many persons content themselves, seem to fit them for little else than to disgrace Christianity by their practice.—Milner.

HE that remembers not to keep the Christian Sabbath at the beginning of the week, will be in danger to forget, before the end of the week, that he is a Christian.—Turner.

IN evil times, it fares best with them that are most careful about duty, and least about safety.-Hammond.

Daily Bread.

FRIDAY.

"The chastisement of our peace was upon him."-ISA. liii. 5. I, I alone, have done the deed!

'Tis I thy sacred flesh have torn;

My sins have caused thee, Lord, to bleed-
Pointed the nail, and fix'd the thorn.

What is this that I see?-my Saviour in an agony, and an angel strengthening him! O the wonderful dispensation of the Almighty!-that the Eternal Son of God, who promised to send the Comforter to his followers, should need comfort!-that he of whom the voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased," should be struggling with his Father's wrath, even to blood!-that the Lord of Life should, in a languishing horror, say, "My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death!" These, these, O Saviour, are the chastisements of our peace; which both thou wouldest suffer, and thy Father would inflict. The least touch of one of those pangs would have been no less than a hell to me, the whole brunt whereof thou enduredst for my soul: what a wretch would I be to grudge a little pain from or for thee!-Hall.

SATURDAY.

"I take from them the joy of their glory, the desire of their eyes, and that whereupon they set their minds."-EZEK. xxiv. 21.

When, gracious Lord, when shall it be
That I shall find my all in thee?
The fulness of thy promise prove-
The seal of thine eternal love?

The sweetest comforts of this life, they are but like treasures of snow. Now, do but take a handful of snow and crush it in your hands, and it will melt away presently; but if you let it lie upon the ground it will continue for some time: and so it is with the contentments of this world, if you grasp them in your hands, and lay them too near your hearts, they will quickly melt and vanish away; but if you will not hold them too fast in your hands, nor lay them too close to your hearts, they will abide the longer with you.-Brooks.

SABBATH.

"The better part."-LUKE X. 42.
Gladly the toys of earth we leave,

Wealth, pleasure, fame, for thee alone
To thee our will, soul, flesh, we give;

O take, O seal them for thine own!

Godliness is the most enriching trade in the world. God's people sometimes gain more by it on a Sabbath-day in one hour, in one sermon, one promise, one prayer, one communion-table, one spiritual breathing, than all the rich men of the shire are worth, put all their estates together. The world will not believe this; but sure I am, one return of prayer, one smile of Christ's face, one look of faith, one grape of Canaan, one glimpse of the promised land, the head of one Goliath, the death of one lust, the strengthening of one grace, which may be obtained in the duties of the Sabbath-any of these is an abundant recompense for all the pains we can be at in God's service this day; they yield more sweetness and content to the soul, than all the pleasures the world can afford. The smallest gleanings of spiritual joy are better than a whole vintage of carnal delights.

-Willison.

MONDAY.

"He ever liveth to make intercession."-HEB. vii. 25.
See where before the throne he stands,
And pours the all-prevailing prayer!
Points to his side, and lifts his hands,

And shows that I am graven there!

Doth Christ for ever live, and for ever sit at the right hand of God? Doth he continually lay open

his wounds-repeat over his sufferings-plead his death and merits claim a right to a sure purchase? Is he continually perfuming heaven with the odour of that sweet incense which he daily offers up with prayers for all the saints? Believe it, such a sacrifice must needs be acceptable-such an Advocate must needs be prevalent-such a Saviour must needs be all-sufficient.-Hopkins.

TUESDAY.

"Walk as Christ walked."-1 JOHN ii. 6.
Thy sinless mind in me reveal;
Thy Spirit's plenitude impart ;
And all my spotless life shall tell

Th' abundance of a living heart. Not only commend God's ways, but walk in them; not only plead his cause verbally, but really, by being, in your proper sphere, active for it. Not only speak well of them that are good, but do good to them. Many will speak for God and good men; but when it comes to doing, there is an end of their goodness; they will not stir a step-not part with a penny. They will be religious as far as good words will go, which cost them nothing, but are loath to be at the charges of doing any real good. How many have their tongues tipped with good discourse, whose lives are unfruitful as to good works! See, therefore, that your actions keep pace with your words-that your religion do not consist merely in talking; that will be a sign it is either fantastical or hypocritical. When the fruit of it reacheth no further than the tongue, it is odds if the root reach any deeper than the head; but when your religion appears in action, your enemies themselves will confess the reality of it.-Veal.

WEDNESDAY.

"Endure unto the end."-MATT. X. 22.
I see an open door of hope;
Legions of sin in vain oppose;
Bold I with thee, my Head, march up,

And triumph o'er a world of foes.

Hold on your way; make not use of any sinful means, neglect not any part of your duty, to secure yourselves and avoid danger. Do not offend God; be not beholden to the devil for your liberty and peace. What though there be lions in the way? Go on, and proceed boldly, so long as it is the way of God. You may live by faith, while you walk by rule; you may walk believingly and cheerfully, while you walk regularly. The wound that a man gets by sin, will put him to far greater smart and pain, than all his sufferings for God and godliness would have done. He that purchases the favour of men with the frowns of conscience will find he hath made a very hard bargain. Every step from God is a step to ruin.-Slater.