We are also commanded to ask wisdom from God; not worldly wisdom, but "that which cometh from above." We are to ask in faith, and not doubtfully: "Ask, and it shall be given you." It also means that if in our temptations, we lack patience under them, we are to ask it of God, who "giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not." These gifts are all to be asked in the name of our Saviour, and with a strong assurance of faith, for let not the man who wavers" think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord." The rich are said to pass away as the flower of the grass; this is a beautiful metaphor, and one particularly applicable to Eastern countries, where the copious night-dew raises and brings out a flower, which the burning mid-day sun scorches and withers. So the rich man (or, more properly, the man who trusts in riches) thinks that nothing shall move him; but when the heat of temptation arrives, he falls away like the withered flower. But if he fail not in the hour of trial, a glorious reward is promised him; for "blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him."

We are not to impute our trials, or weakness in them, to God; for He only allows us to be tempted in order to prove our faith; and will not permit us to be tried more than we are able to bear. We are tempted by our own evil thoughts and feelings, and enticed by our evil desires, and not by God. Our desires and wicked thoughts gradually lead us on to sin; and when we have completed our sin, it leads us to death. "Do not err, my beloved brethren." Every good gift is from above, and comes down from God, from that kind and benevolent Father who never changes, "with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." It is from Him that we receive the rest we enjoy, the food we eat, and the many blessings around us; and above all, that greater benefit which He conferred on us by sending down His only Son to die for us, that all might be saved through faith in His name. Wherefore, let us be "swift to hear," hearken to the word; "slow to speak," meditate on it; "slow to wrath," practise it, and do thereafter; "for

the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God."

It is necessary that besides listening attentively to the word, we should practise it, or all will be in vain. This deceives ourselves, and also others who might be led by our example. Hearing the word, and not doing it, is well compared to a man beholding his own image reflected in a glass, which, when it disappears from his sight, fades away also from his mind. So the transient impression which was produced in our minds by hearing the word, is dispersed as soon as we have ceased to listen to it. But he that continues in the perfect law of liberty, and forgets not what he hears, but acts according to it, this man indeed is blessed. If a man appear to be outwardly religious, but does not keep under that unruly member, the tongue, his religion is not of the true kind. Evil speaking is a very great fault, which indeed appears not at first sight so heinous, but is especially condemned in the holy Scriptures. Our blessed Lord says, "Judge not, that ye be not judged;" and Saint Paul, "Though I speak with the tongues of men and angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal." Our religion should produce good works in us, amongst which charity holds a prominent place; we should visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and keep ourselves unspotted from the world." X.Y.Z.

CROWLAND ABBEY, LINCOLNSHIRE

THE accompanying engraving represents a part of the mouldering remains of one of the largest, richest, and most magnificent abbeys, which once flourished in this country; and though now the greater part of it is but a neglected ruin, yet it still bears about it the marks of its original splendour. Its situation, which is in the fens of Lincolnshire, certainly does not show any sufficient reason why it should form the site of so noble a building, or why it should be marked out as the dwelling of the learned body of ecclesiastics who once resided there. It is a curious fact, however, that this marshy and fenny

neighbourhood possesses more remains of monastic buildings than, perhaps, any other in England. The causes generally alleged for this otherwise unaccountable circumstance, are, that those islands on which these abbeys were generally built were, at those seasons when the waters went partially down, very fertile, and afforded excellent pasture for cattle; and as the weirs and other waters in the neighbourhood abounded in all kinds of

fish, there was no lack of provisions in those parts; and besides, as these fens were much retired from the rest of the world, they formed not unsuitable places for the establishment of monasteries.

Crowland, or, as it was formerly called, Croyland, Abbey, may be considered as having been founded about the year 820, by Ethelbald, king of Mercia; for though some small part of a church had been probably raised by St. Guthlac a short time before, it was but a very inconsiderable part of the structure raised by Ethelbald. The legend says, that St. Guthlac, the son of a powerful noble, who had retired at an early age to the monastery of Repton in Derbyshire, subsequently became abbot there, and soon after wishing to show an example of abstinence, and to encourage others to withdraw themselves still more from the world, he determined to leave his monastery; which he did, and, after rambling in a country of which he was perfectly ignorant, he at length set forth in a small boat, to traverse the fen district, trusting for bodily sustenance to what he could obtain by fowling and fishing. His boat finally took land on a small island, where was a single tree, on which was perched a crow, and there he determined to fix his residence. It is not quite clear whether he built any thing more than a single dwelling for himself there, or whether he passed the remainder of his days there alone, or whether he was joined by any of his former associates, by whom he was assisted in making this island more fit for the purposes for which he had designed it; but after his death, which happened in 817, King Ethelbald completed the building of the monastery, which he dedicated to the memory of St. Guthlac, and richly endowed.

The story of St. Guthlac is represented to this day, in the magnificent oak screen in the north aisle of the nave of the church, the only part of the church now used for divine service, and also in the west front. The origin of the name of the place," Crow land," may be easily seen, for St. Guthlac pitched upon it as a place which could be inhabited by other than amphibious animals, which was proved by the crow upon the tree. Crowland Abbey, having been thus established, flourished

VOL. XXVI.

N

without molestation for about one hundred and fifty years, at the end of which time it was laid in ruins by the Danes, as was also the monastery of Peterborough, and many others in that part of England. The monastery was again rebuilt in 948, and confirmed in its former privileges, but was destroyed by fire in 1091. In 1112 it was again rebuilt with greater magnificence than before, but was burnt down again in about thirty years. The church, which formed the foundation of the structure whose remains we still look upon with wonder and admiration, was begun about the year 1170; the eastern parts, namely the choir and transept, were first built, and latterly the nave and west front: the former have now perished; the earliest portions of the Abbey now remaining being the western piers and arch of the central tower. The nave and north western tower were probably rebuilt a short time before the Reformation; and at the same time, the upper part of the west front was erected. At the Reformation the abbey was dissolved, and the church granted to the inhabitants of Crowland for parochial uses. The parts of the abbey, which were fitted up as a parish church at the Reformation, were the nave and its aisles.

At the Rebellion, the town of Crowland held out bravely for some time for the king, but was at length reduced by the Parliamentarian forces, who profaned the church so much as to make it a stable for their horses, and before they left, destroyed the greater part of it.

After this, the north aisle of the nave was enlarged and fitted up as the parish church of the town, which office it still fulfils. The west front (represented in the engraving), is still in a wonderfully perfect state, considering all the vicissitudes to which it has been subjected, and is of the richest possible architectural character. The fine pier and arches of the nave also, are almost all standing. The roof of that part now used as a parish church, has very fine bosses, and altogether the remains of this abbey are highly valuable, as well from their architectural merit, as their historical interest. O. W. D.