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or as stars in the pure ether, which is yet perfect in its own wondrous simplicity. These beauties grow out of emotion, -they are the effect of deep feeling; impassioned reason becomes poetic; and though the discourse began in prose, it ends in poetry. Reason retains her place all through, as the pathway of the soul in her progress: but the road is not the only object looked at; the heavens above, and the earth beneath, are all brought in to complete the picture. Pathos is intermingled with beauty and sublimity; and of all the peculiarities belonging to Mr. Watson, pathos was the finest. It did not on this occasion, or on any other, manifest itself in tears,- he never wept; it did not display itself in sighs, groans, or exclamations,-he never vociferated; it did not show itself by any extravagant gesture or violent action, he never became the actor. No: it was simply a pathos of the heart,-tender, delicate, deep; it mingled itself in his words, which became gentle as the dying breezes of evening: the fire became spent; the glow of genius subsided; the lofty flights of imagination ended; the orator ceased his entrancing fascinations; the heart seemed subdued into the affectionate palpitations of the child; he spoke of love, and felt all its tenderness.

In this sermon some peculiarities of manner were observable. The action was never great, and in the beginning rather slow and measured, but a perfect model of its kind. As the difficulties of a beginning, however, were cleared, and the depths reached, the right hand began to move; then it was stretched out, but never raised higher than the breast; it was never clenched, but the forefinger of a most delicate and beautiful hand stretched out, as in a pointing attitude. Only one deviation from this gesture was observable. When greatly excited, when profoundly feeling the weight of some great truth, before giving utterance to it, and as if pausing for a moment, to find for it a more perfect form, he thrust his right hand into his bosom, and then announced the thought in that peculiar posture. One other singularity may be noticed: when he had finished one of his most beautiful climaxes of reasoning or fancy, he gave his head a majestic nod, with a sort of backward

movement, as if he intended to signify to his hearers, that they were then, at that point, to consider the matter finished; and, moreover, this nod, it must be confessed, had somewhat of a defiant air about it, as if to intimate to the sceptic that he had no fear of his criticism. In this service there was

that mixture of goodness and greatness which constitutes the perfection of such hallowed exercises. The devotional part was as exalted as the intellectual: a solemnity and a sweetness combined characterized the prayers; whilst the sermon conveyed to the mind the most exalted truths of the Gospel.

Silence followed. The congregation appeared profoundly moved. They seemed in no haste to go away. None smiled, or exchanged greetings with each other. They retired with gravity; and, as they passed along, no one heard a word of criticism. The impression seemed too deep for garrulity; the doctrine of the discourse had passed from the imagination to the heart and conscience; and conscience is always more silent than fancy.-London Quarterly Review.

ANATHEMAS.

WELL said Solomon that there is nothing new under the sun. Cursing and bitterness are not new. Nay, nor are even the forms of cursing new, nor the graduation of curses. "It is to be noted," says the rubric of the Pontifical, "that excommunication is threefold; namely, minor (lesser), major (greater), and anathema." The Romanists who have burnt so many Jews, and who think it pious to hate the children of Abraham, have borrowed these degrees of malediction from the Synagogue, although they may not own it. For the Jews have had a similar tripartition of the curse from times of old; and accordingly in their practice we find the lesser or separation, the greater or excommunication, and, the most terrible of all, the snow or anathema. Buxtorf the younger, in his "Rabbinical Lexicon," gives an anathema from an ancient Hebrew manuscript; and we translate it here, as more seldom heard

of by far, than the multiform maledictions that resound every day from Romish altars, yet not less horrid :

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"By the sentence of the Lord of Lords. Let N., the son of N., be accursed in both houses of judgments. In them that are above (the judgments of heaven), and in them that are beneath (the judgments of hell). And by the curse of the Holy Ones above. And by the curse of the seraphim and the angels serving at the throne,And by the curse of all the congregation, both great and small. And let great and perpetual plagues come upon him, and diseases great and horrible. And let his house be a habitation of dragons; and his constellation be darkened under clouds. Let him be given up to indignation, to wrath, and to burning anger. Let his carcase be east out to wild beasts and serpents. Let enemies and accusers rejoice over him. Let his gold and silver be given to strangers. Let all his children be exposed at the gates of his enemies. At his doom let all generations be amazed. Let him be accursed from the mouth of Adiriron and Achtariél; from the mouth of Sandalphon and Handariél; from the mouth of Ansisiél and Patchiél; from the mouth of Seraphiél and Zaganzaél; from the mouth of Michael and Gabriel; from the mouth of Raphael and Mesharetiél. And let him be accursed from the mouth of Tsabtsabib and from the mouth of Habhabib, who is the Lord, the Great God. And from the mouth of the seventy names of the Great King, and on the part of Tsortak, the great Chancellor.* Let him be swallowed up like Korah and his congregation. Let his soul depart in terror and with great trembling. Let the rebuke of the Lord kill him. Let him be strangled like Ahitophel in his device. Let his leprosy be like the leprosy of Gehazi, and let him not be raised up again after his fall. In the graves of Israel let him not find burial. To strangers let his wife be given, and when he is dying let others take her away (1) Under this curse be N., the son of N.; and let this be his inheritance. But

• The reader will not expect an account of the angelic beings here named, Jewish invention has given to each his office.

over me and over all Israel may God spread His peace and His blessing. May God keep the poor of His people from all evil."

The law of Christianity forbids this devotion of enemies to evil, which is a part of many man-made religions; and the spirit of Christianity enables every one whom it inspires to return blessing for cursing, and prayer for despite and persecution. In no way can we exemplify the spirit of our most holy faith so well as by publishing to Jews and Papists-for all of whom the Lamb of God was offered on the cross-the glad tidings of salvation.

One thing, however, we must remark.

The form of excommunication in the Roman Pontifical, already referred to, is far worse than the ban just now translated. The Jew vents his vengeance in cursing the body and the soul, it is true; but he stops at the threshold of eternity, perhaps, because he fancies that a descendant of Jacob cannot perish everlastingly. The Church of Rome breaks through that barrier, and presumes to launch her poisoned arrows into the realms of the departed. Hear a few sentences from the form prescribed :

66 Therefore, him, and all his accomplices and abettors, by the judgment of Almighty God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and of the blessed Peter, Prince of the Apostles, and of all Saints, as well as by that of our mediocrity, [modest!] and by the power of binding and loosing in heaven and on earth, that is divinely imparted unto us, we separate from the receiving of the precious body and blood of Christ, [in the mass, ] and from the society of all Christians, and we exclude from the threshold of holy mother Church in heaven and on earth; and we decree that he shall be excommunicate, anathematised, and DAMNED WITH THE DEVIL AND HIS ANGELS, and condemn him to eternal fire, until he repent, and return from the snares of the devil to repentance and to amendment, and satisfy the Church of God which he has injured; delivering him to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of judgment."

But if he does not satisfy the Church, the condemnation

to eternal fire is held to be valid; and if the Church could be sure of the execution of her sentence, then, of course, she would be quite satisfied.

"That it may please Thee to forgive our enemies, persecutors, and slanderers, and to turn their hearts. We beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord!”

POPULAR CARICATURES OF EVANGELICAL

RELIGION.

THAT such writers as Dickens and Thackeray should be able to give a correct representation of the spirit, sentiments, and manners of religious men, is as decided an impossibility as that a painter should be able to paint a landscape which he has scarcely seen, or embody on canvas the spirit of a transaction which he does not understand. Whatever society these men may have cultivated, none will more readily admit than themselves, that they have been very seldom in that of professors of religion. With playactors, and artists, and littérateurs; with professional men, and Parliamentary men, and public men generally; with people of fashion, both in town and country; with the frequenters of clubs and the denizens of pot-houses; with military men and naval men; with police-serjeants and detective officers; with publishers, editors, and penny-aliners; they have doubtless enjoyed the best opportunities of becoming acquainted. Some of them, too, we can believe, have had very fair opportunities of acquainting themselves with the natural history of fast-livers, whether literary or not; and, amid the toil of their Herculean efforts to overthrow a Puritan Sabbath, could doubtless enjoy a nice recreation by describing one of these spirited men attempting to pacify a clamorous tradesman, or to elude the vigilance of a criminal officer, or even passing a few weeks in the select society of turnkeys and gaolers. That many of our popular writers have seen a vast deal of society, in all these varied aspects, we do not doubt; and we readily admit that the remarkable imitative faculty of some of them, with their lively dramatic power, has enabled them to portray much

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