the whole land of England. And then he shows how those same trades in Paris, by agreeing among themselves and with the Government to carry on business according to just and rational principles, looking not to their own selfish interest merely, but to the good of the country and of their fellow-creatures, have contrived to keep themselves prosperous, keep their workmen healthy and respectable, and to supply the public with cheap and good articles, at a saving to the city of Paris of many thousand of pounds every year.

Now this is one instance of how true the text is. How good things are added to men, how they may thrive and prosper in worldly matters, if instead of saying first, How shall I eat? How shall I be clothed ? How shall I get all I can for myself in this selfish scramble of life?' they will seek first, even in mere trade matters, the kingdom of God and His righteousness; that is, if they will first find out what the laws are by which God has ordained that man should live for his country and his fellow-Christians, and determine to do what is just and righteous by them, trusting to God to see that he shall not thereby lose the daily bread which our heavenly Father knows that we have need of before we ask Him.

And so we shall find it in small matters as well as great. Oh, if men's eyes were but opened to see the kingdom of God and His righteousness; to see how well made the kingdom of nature is; how still better made the Church, the kingdom of grace, is! Oh, that they would see that by keeping the laws of God's kingdom, the simple old laws of justice and love, between man and man, which they learnt in their Catechism at school, they would keep themselves in the path of peace and prosperity, of honour and happiness, and save themselves a thousand miseries which fall on those who make haste to be rich, and pierce themselves through with many sorrows; and fall into foolish and hurtful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition! Oh, that they would believe that God's laws are life to them and their children after them, because they are the laws of a Father who knows their necessities before they ask, and their ignorance in asking, and has put them into the world that they may thrive and not perish, that they may be happy and not miserable!

Oh, that they would learn that in God's presence is life, and at His right hand are pleasures for evermore! Oh, that they would learn this! But nothing will teach them save the Holy Spirit of God. Truly we all have need to ask for Him by diligent prayer. To ask Him to come to us, to open the eye of our souls and show us the things which belong to our peace and the path of life; that we may see that though all man's inventions and plans come to an end, yet God's commandments are exceeding broad. Broad enough for rich and poor; for scholar, tradesman, and labourer; for our prosperity in this life and our salvation in the life to come. Namely- Trust in the Lord, and be doing good. Then thou shalt dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.'

For I have been young, and now am old; yet never saw I the righteous forsaken, or his seed begging their bread.'

ELIA CAPITOLINA.

ELIA CAPITOLINA.

FTER the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, in the year 70, notwithstanding the great losses which the Jewish nation sustained during the siege, and still further by the numbers carried away into captivity, the remnant of the people devoted themselves to rebuilding their city. But though they had received such a terrible lesson of the futility of resisting the power of Rome, they still engaged in seditious attempts. These were no doubt provoked by the severe treatment to which they were subjected. And when at length the Emperor Hadrian not only forbade them to practise their ancient rites, but sent a colony of Gentiles to the city, calling it Ælia Capitolina, after his family name of Ælius, they drove out the colony of strangers and broke out into open rebellion in A.D. 131.

In this last struggle for their existence as a nation the Jews fought with the courage of despair; and for years succeeded in baffling the Roman armies. But they were finally conquered, Jerusalem was taken, and multitudes of those who escaped death were sold at the great fair annually held at the terebinth tree of Abraham at Mamre. And St. Jerome says that in his time no Jew would attend the fair, from the recollection of the shame of his ancestors.

From this time the unhappy people became outcasts on the face of the earth. It was death for any of them to enter the Holy City. Its very name was abolished-it was Elia Capitolina; there were a theatre, a temple, and a statue of Jupiter on the site of the Temple of the Lord; the figure of a hog was carved over the Bethlehem gate; and for two hundred years there was no city in the world called Jerusalem. Yet still the aged Jews, both men and women, would come to the Mount of Olives, and bribe the Roman soldiers who were stationed there to suffer them to gaze on their beloved city-they could not even weep without paying for it!*

At last, in the days of Constantine, everything was changed. The capital of Judæa, which had formerly been looked on as the very hotbed of tumult and revolt, was reverenced as the centre of Christianity, as the spot sanctified by the teaching and sacrifice of the Redeemer of the world, and it was once more known by the venerable name of Jerusalem. A. R.

GRIEF BANISHED BY WINE.

DY SIR W. A'BECKETT.

RIEF banished by wine will come

again,

And come with a deeper shade, Leaving, perchance, on the soul a stain Which sorrow had never made.

Then fill not the tempting glass for me,

If mournful, I will not be mad; Better sad, because we are sinful, be, Than sinful because we are sad.

* St. Jerome. At the Council of Nicæa, held in A.D. 325, Jerusalem was still called Ælia.

W

WILLIAM LAUD.-PART II.

HEN Laud was complimented by Wentworth on his elevation, he answered in a desponding strain, I have had a heaviness hanging over me,' said he, 'ever since I was nominated to this office, and I can give myself no account of it, except it arises from a fear that more is expected from me than these evil times will give me leave to do.'

At the very outset of his career as Archbishop, Laud was admonished by a faithful friend that his sharp temper gave great offence, and many, people spoke very ill of him on that account. The Archbishop took the rebuke meekly, and said he meant well in his heart, and if he spoke with more haste than was seemly he did not intend to hurt any one's feelings, and was sorry people were offended by his harsh manner.

The question of Sunday sports, the position of the Communion Table, vestments, and other pressing matters, at once engaged Laud's attention, and his decisions on them formed the ground of his condemnation afterwards. The Holy Table was usually found in parish churches (though not in cathedrals) in the body of the chancel or church before Laud's time, and, in consequence of its undefended position, it was frequently desecrated. Children wrote their copies on it. Overseers settled their accounts on it. Men made a seat of it at sermon time. Cloaks and hats were placed upon it. From such treatment the Archbishop rescued the Lord's Table, by ordering it to be placed at the East end, and railed in. Much strife arose about this matter, and Fuller says 'both sides almost sacrificed their charity on this altar.' Bishop Williams opposed Laud, and wrote a tract to the Vicar of Grantham* against the Communion Table standing altar-wise at the East end, and ordered it to be placed in the middle of the chancel and railed in there. All the other Bishops, however, and the bulk of the clergy, agreed with the Archbishop in this

matter.

Laud's reverence for the Holy Table, further manifested in his statutes for the Cathedral at Canterbury, was made a stout peg to hang a grievous charge upon. He was accused of holding the Romish doctrine of Transubstantiation. He had said, "The altar is the greatest place of God's residence upon earth, greater than the pulpit; for a greater reverence is due to the body than to the word of the Lord. But Laud strenuously insisted he implied no idea of transubstantiation in these words. He held the idea of a real presence, which he said Calvin also granted.

One object dear to the King, the Archbishop, and the prime

*The then Vicar of Grantham loved ceremonies as much as the townsfolk hated them. A battle took place in the church, and the Vicar, being a huge man, defended the altar and smote down five or six assailants with a form. This is thus noticed in a book called England's Reform:

'What mischiefs did in kirks arise,

By setting tables altar-wise;

How Grantham's Vicar, by the rabble,
Was banged about the Communion-table.'

minister Strafford, was the reduction of the three kingdoms to one rule of political and religious observance. Ireland was to be made Protestant, and Scotland Catholic, in the Anglican sense of those two important and often misunderstood phrases. The Scottish Bishops advised a modification of the English Prayer-book, as being less likely to offend the sensitive minds of their countrymen; and it was so arranged. But while the work lingered, the Scots were exasperated by the publication of certain Canons, which absurdly enjoined the people to observe with strictness a Liturgy which had not yet appeared.

Laud himself was for introducing the English ritual as it was, but when he could not have his own way in this matter he did what he could to bring the Canons and Liturgy of the Church of Scotland into harmony with those of the Church of England. The worst thought I had of any reformed Church was to wish it were like the Church of England,' said he, when relating the history of his troubles. And I hope this was not to negociate with Rome.' We cannot here, however, point out how the Scottish and English Prayer-books differed; suffice it to say, the unfortunate Scottish Liturgy was exposed to the pitiless storm of the stony Sabbath,' and Bishop Lindsay was all but slain by the furious Edinburgh mob. The result further was a 'solemn league and covenant,' subscribed by nearly all the nation. In the March following 'the stony Sabbath' this solemn league was read to an enthusiastic multitude, and signed. So ended this unhappy attempt to impose a Liturgy on the people of Scotland.

Soon after this Laud, who was a great favourite with the King, became Lord Treasurer, and retained the office one year, much against his will, and at the expense of his peace. He resigned the office in favour of Juxon, who became in his turn the object of envy; though the meeker spirit of that good Bishop almost disarmed the uncharitableness of his disappointed rivals.

As Chancellor of Oxford, Laud had the pleasure of entertaining Charles and his Queen at that seat of learning. Presents of a suitable sort were made. The King received a richly-illuminated Bible, while Rupert, the dashing cavalry officer, was gratified by Cæsar's Commentaries. The King lodged at Christ Church, attended service in the Cathedral, heard a comedy, visited the Bodleian, and, in fact, spent a very happy time at Oxford; little dreaming of the misfortunes which were being prepared for him, though he must have been aware of the ill-will that grew apace between himself and his subjects.

Books full of the foulest and boldest slanders were now written against all persons in authority. Laud was 'arch-agent for the devil.' Bishops generally were 'devouring wolves, cruel, tyrannous, despisers of the Bible, a commonwealth of rats, caterpillars instead of pillars, traps and wiles of the dragon-dogs, factors for Antichrist, mushrumps, jesuited polypragmatics,' and so forth.

All the Scottish Bishops except four forsook their country: one stood at his post, and three went over to the adversary.

The Scottish hatred of Bishops and Liturgies no doubt encouraged the English Dissenters to do likewise. The pious Bishop Hall, assisted