the Lady of Love*; and who knows not of the radiant face that beamed upon Tasso, in his vault at Ferrara—and such a vault!-pining in hunger, nakedness, and despair. So, too, was the night of Milton brightened by—

Forms that glitter in the Muses' ray

and the beauty of angelic wings shone upon the darkness. His sojourn at Cambridge had, at least, familiarized him with the dim religious light; and often while lingering with solemn awe through the chapel of King's College,—

While from our sight

With gradual stealth the lateral windows hide
Their Portraitures, their stone-work glimmers, dyed
In the soft chequerings of a sleepy light,
Martyr or King, or sainted Eremite.—

Often during these hallowed seasons, when the soul was lifted into heaven, have I thought upon the rapture with which his youthful heart must have acknowledged the enchantment of the place:

They dreamt not of a perishable home

Who thus could build. Be mine, in hours of fear,
Or grovelling thought, to seek a refuge here;
Or through the aisles of Westminster to roam;
Where bubbles burst, and folly's dancing foam
Melts if it cross the threshold.

* Alluding to the Testament of Love, supposed to have been composed during his imprisonment.

ONE HOUR WITH HENRY MARTYN,

AND A GLANCE AT

THE PRESENT STATE OF RELIGIOUS FEELING IN THE UNIVERSITY.

PALEY, in commenting upon the propagation of Christianity, dwells with much earnestness upon the success of the Apostolic Ministry, as a strong proof of the divine origin of the religion. For what had the apostles, he says, to assist them in their preaching which the modern missionaries have not. If piety and ardent zeal had been sufficient, they possess them in a high degree; for piety and zeal could alone excite them to the undertaking. If simplicity of life, or purity of manners, were the allurement, the conduct of these men is irreproachable. If the influence of education and learning be required, which of the modern missionaries is not superior to all the apostles, both absolutely and relatively *. The internal power and beauty of the religion remain the same; in its precepts equally holy, in its morality equally chaste, in its exhortations equally eloquent.

In one respect, indeed, the modern missionary

* Evidences of Christianity, part 2, sect. 2.

possesses a peculiar advantage. Prophecy, was the beautiful remark of Bishop Newton, is a growing evidence; and so it has proved itself. Every year has added something to its strength; the accomplishment of the local prophecies, as related and demonstrated in the works of Burckhardt, and other eastern travellers, is decisive and incontrovertible. Their fulfilment furnishes another powerful argument to the Christian missionary; yet how ineffectual, how discouraging the labours even of the most active, and the most successful. Look, for instance, at India, the scene of Henry Martyn's unwearied exertions. How little has a highly educated and intelligent church been able to perform during the whole period of its establishment. How few names have been added to the Book of Life! In that rich and luxurious climate the Tree of Divine Knowledge seems alone to pine. Yet its root has been nourished by the ashes of Christian brethren. Mothers, and fathers, and sisters, and brothers, have been forsaken for the cause,-not even the domestic hearth has been preferred before it.

The dearest associations, the most delightful studies, have been joyfully abandoned. "This is the day," says Mr. Martyn in his Indian Diary, "that I left Cambridge. My thoughts frequently recurred with many tender recollections to that seat

of my beloved brethren; and I again wandered in spirit among the trees on the banks of the Cam.”

Nor has the self-sacrificing temper which animated the original Preachers of Christianity been dead in their successors. What savage sea, or what inhospitable shore has not witnessed their exertions. They, too, have been in perils by land, in perils in the sea, in perils from false brethren; in fastings often, in prison often; in cold and nakedness. They, too, have willingly become poor that they might make many rich,-yet has all this enthusiasm, all this self-consecration of the soul and body to one great pursuit reaped only a barren harvest. We have reason to believe that the apostles converted more in a single week than the united efforts of European missionaries during fifty years. Are we not, therefore, driven upon the conclusion that they possessed means of conviction which we have not; that they had proofs to appeal to which we want*?

But while, if viewed only in reference to the avowed object of his mission, Mr. Martyn's success was trifling, relatively he performed the most valuable and deeply important services to the cause of religion. His translation of the Scriptures into the Eastern tongue laid a foundation for the gradual subjection of the popular mind to the precepts of the Bible. In accomplishing this great task, he

* Paley.

planted, as it were, a root of the true Vine, which future ages may behold overshadowing the land. Nor did the benefits of his labours stop here; they gave a stimulus to Christian scholars and Christian communities; the work has been continually advancing; version upon version of the Word of God has been sent forth into the uttermost recesses of the earth; so that by the power of the Almighty acting upon his servants, a new miracle may be said to have been wrought. The voice of thanksgiving and praise ascends from a thousand provinces; and the sun shines upon no corner of the habitable globe in which men do not hear in their "own tongues the wonderful works of God."

But there is another circumstance in the life of Mr. Martyn, more intimately connected with the objects of this volume. We are indebted to his example for much of the good feeling that now pervades the junior portion of the University. All who were acquainted with Cambridge society as it existed among the undergraduates fifteen or twenty years ago, will recognise in the present state of things a very marked and singular improvement. In the earlier days of Mr. Simeon's ministry, he was exposed, together with his followers, to many and distressing ebullitions of dislike; and instances sometimes occurred when the college authorities judged it expedient to forbid their pupils attend