very singular among the customs of the Fins, was their baths, and manner of bathing. Almost all the Fin nish peasants have a small house built on purpose for a bath; it consists of only one smail chamber, in the innermost part of which are placed a number of stones, which are heated by fire till they become red. On these stones, thus heated, water is thrown, until the company within be involved in a thick cloud of vapour. In this innermost part, the chamber is formed into two stories for the accommodation of a greater number of persons within that small compass; and it being the nature of heat and vapour to ascend, the second story is, of course the hottest. Men and women use the bath promiscuously, without any concealment of dress, or being in the least influenced by any emotions of attachment. If, however, a stranger open the door, and come on the bathers by surprise, the women are not a little startled at his appearance; for, besides his person, he introduces along with him, by opening the door, a great quantity of light, which discovers at once to the view their situation, as well as forms. Without such an accident they remain, if not in total darkness, yet in great obscurity, as there is no other window besides a small hole, nor any light but what enters in from some chinks in the roof of the house, or the crevices between the pieces of wood of which it is constructed. I often amused myself with surprising the bathers in this manner, and I once or twice tried to go in and join the assembly; but the heat was so excessive that I could not breathe, and in the space of a minute at most, I verily believe, must have been suffocated. I sometimes stept in for a moment, just to leave my thermometer in some proper place, and immediately went out again, where I would remain for a quarter of an hour, or ten minutes, and then enter again, and fetch the instrument, to ascertain the degree of heat. My astonishment was so great, that I could scarcely believe my senses, when I found that those people remain together, and amuse themselves for the space of half an hour, and sometimes a whole hour, in the same chamber, heated to the 70th or 75th degree of Celsius. The thermometer, in contact with those vapours, became sometimes so hot that I could scarcely hold it in my hands. "The Finlanders, all the while they are in this hot bath, continue to rub themselves, and lash every part of their bodies with switches, formed of the twigs of the birch tree. In ten minutes they become as red as raw flesh, and have altogether a very frightful appearance. In the winter season they frequently go out of the bath, naked as they are to roll themselves in the snow, when the cold is at 20, and even at 30 degrees below Zero. They will sometimes come out, still naked, and converse toge ther, or with any one near them, in If travellers happen the open air. to pass by while the peasants of any hamlet, or little village, are in the bath, and their assistance is needed, they will leave the bath, and assist in yoking or unyoking, and fetching provender for the horses, or in any thing else, without any sort of covering whatever, while the passenger sits shivering with cold, though wrapped up in a good sound wolt's skin. There is nothing more wonderful than the extremities which man is capable of enduring through the power of habit. "The Finnish peasants pass thus instantaneously from an atmosphere of 70 degrees of heat, to one of 30 degrees of cold, a transition of a hun dred degrees, which is the same thing as going out of boiling into freezing water! and what is more astonishing, without the least inconvenience, while other people are very sensibly af fected by a variation of but five degrees, and in danger of being afflicted with rheumatism by the most tri fling wind that blows. Those peasants assure you, that without the hot vapour baths they could not sustain, as they do, during the whole day, their various labours. By the bath, they tell you, their strength is recruited as much as by rest and sleep. The heat of the vapour mollifies to such a degree their skin, that the men easily shave themselves with wretched razors, and without soap. Had Shakspeare known of a people who could thus have pleasure in such quick transition from excessive heat to the severest cold, his knowledge I speak always of the thermometer of a 100 degrees, by Celsius. might have been increased, but his creative fancy could not have been assisted : "O! who can hold a fire in his hand, By thinking of the frosty Caucasus ? Or wallow naked in December snow, By thinking on fantastic summer's heat?" p. 296-299. from him in whose hand are all things. Come hither, I will make thee 'my friend; approach, for thou shalt henceforth be my companion. Come 'down from the high hill; leave the 'seat of sorrow behind thee; enough hast thou suffered; the tears thou hast shed are sufficient; thou hast teneth to meet thee; relief from grief to come. Chap. XXIII. This chapter de-felt pain and disease; the hour of scribes the national poetry of Fin- 'thy deliverance is come; thou art land. The turn of the natives for po-set free from evil days; peace hasetry, and the manner in which they recite their poetical compositions is thus stated: "A circle is formed of the auditors, in the midst of which stand the improvisator, and his repetitory coadjutor. "Every line which the improvisator sings or delivers, is repeated in the same tune by the coadjutor, who, taking up the last word, or the last but one, finishes the line with him, and then repeats it alone. This gives the improvisator time to prepare the succeeding line, which he sings, seconded in like manner by his coadjutor; and thus they both proceed, the coadjutor always taking up the last word of the improvisator's line, and then repeating it by himself until the poem is ended. During intervals, they recruit their spirits with beer or brandy, and sometimes continue the improvisation to a late hour. Dancing not being very common among the Finnish peasantry, their amusements at fairs, or at their private meetings, consists in these kind of songs, or recitations, sometimes accompanied by the harp, if that instrument be at hand, when the harper supplies the place of the repetitor. I ́shall now lay before my readers some specimens of these poems, in which there will be observed much redundancy of expression, the sense being continued through two or more verses, the phrase only varied, as in the eastern compositions. The Finnish tongue is peculiarly adapted to this kind of phraseology, as it is highly copious, and abounding with synonimous words. "The first specimen I shall produce is an extract from a poem, or funeral elegy, composed by Paulo Remes, a Finnish peasant, upon the occasion of his brother's decease. This poem was printed at Abo, in 1765. The word went from heaven, Thus went he out to his Maker; he entered into glory; he hastened into extreme bliss; he departed to ' enjoy liberty; he quitted a life of sorrow; he left the habitations of the earth.' “Proverbs are the result of experience and wisdom; and no nations, however barbarous, are found without them in their language. The Finnish tongue has an abundance, many of them conveying strong sense and acute mark. They are for the most part in runic or alliterative verse; and, like the Hebrew proverbs, are divided into hemistics, the latter illustrating the foregoing. The following are Finnish proverbs, literally translated: The good man spareth from his peck; but the wicked will not give 'from a bushel. sharp; but the ploughshare of the 'fool wanteth grinding'." p. 303- 306. 'dress of his daughter! I should leave every thing to attend upon my beloved, who is the dear object of my summer thoughts, and winter cares'. "This version in rhyme is neither so close as metaphrase, nor so distant as paraphrase. 1. 'O were my love but here with me! 2. Those winds that whisper thro' the wood, Love, our author adds, is, “as may be supposed, the great business of the fair sex, and the topic upon which the energies of the Finnish poetess are chiefly exercised: it is, however, not an easy matter to procure specimens of these songs, as they are generally sung by the young women at meetings, to which men are rarely or never admitted. Mr. Frawzen, of Abo, presented me with a song, the composition of a country girl, a native of Ostro-Bothnia, and the servant of the magister or the clergyman of the village, where she had constantly resided. It is composed on the occasion of her lover's absence, in a style of natural simplicity, strong sentiment, and bold figure, to attain which more cultivated understandings sometimes labour in vain. The thought in the second stanza, if not altogether new to poetry, has something in it very striking, is prettily introduced, and well turned. This little piece, considered as the production of a girl who could neither write nor read, is a wonderful performance. It is nature's poet delivering the dictates CXIII. of her heart in the words which love has suggested, and snatching a grace 'beyond the reach of art.' This Fin Ill-cook'd the rector's meals would be, 'Dressing his daughter wait for me; Whilst kitchen, toilet, I forsake, And thought of my love only take; On that alone my care bestow, My summer's wish, my winter's vow.' p. 317-319. (To be concluded in our uext.) SERMONS. By WILLIAM (Concluded from page 437.) a farther specimen of these in pish Sappho, amidst all the snows of Ateresting Discourses we add the her ungenial climate, discovers all the warmth of the poetess of Lesbos. I shall lay before the reader two translations of this song, the one in prose, the other in verse. "The following prose translation is as near the original as the English language can approach the Finnish. 1. Oh! that my beloved were now here; that his well known figure were but before me! How should I fly into his arms, and kiss him, though his face were besmeared 'with the blood of a wolf! How should I press his hand, even though a snake were twisted round it! 2. Alas! why have not the winds understanding? And why is the breeze bereft of speech? The winds might exchange sentiments betwixt 'my beloved and me. The breezes 'might every instant carry my words 'to him and bring back his to me. 3. How then would the delicacies of the rector's table be neglected! 'How inattentive should I be to the exordium and analysis of the sixth Sermon, with the two first heads of Discourse. both his subject and his audience were completely under his management. or enlarge, which please the imagination, which are easily remembered, and which often occur. This method of instruction our Lord and Saviour adopted we often read of his say ings; and there is no sentence, which he so frequently repeated, as the words which I have read. This alone should powerfully recommend them to our regard; but they have higher claims, and we shall view them, I. As implying the authority of the Speaker. II. As suggesting the importance of the subject. IH. As appealing to impartial consideration. IV. As demanding practical improve-me of sin? It debased none of his ment. He that hath ears to hear, 'let him hear.' "He had all the authority which is derived from unimpeachable rectitude. This gives a speaker peculiar firmness and force. A consciousness of vice, or even of imperfection, has a tendency to make him partial or timid. And where is the teacher, who is sensible of no failings; who exemplifies universally those high instructions he delivers? In many things we offend all.'-He alone could say, which of you convinceth actions, it mixed with none of his motives. His tempers were all heavenly; his example embodied and enlivened every doctrine he preached. In him were none of those omis "I. Here is implied the authority of the Speaker. And who can advance claims on our attention equally numerous and powerful with his?sions which call for the proverb, 'He entered into the synagogue, and taught. And they were astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them as one that had authority, and not as the scribes.' He possessed every thing from which a teacher could derive influence. "He had all the authority which is derived from knowledge. Religion was the subject he came to teach he knew the whole, and the whole perfectly. With all the case of intelligence, he speaks of things which would swallow us up-they were familiar to him. He speaks of God without any embarrassment He was in the bosom of the Father.' He speaks of heaven without any emotions of wonder-it was his Father's house. He mentions the treachery of Judas without any surprise he knew from the beginning who would betray him.' Nothing in the behaviour of his enemies, or of his friends; nothing in the denial of Peter, or dispersion of his disciples astonished him he knew what was in man.' He was fully acquainted with the capacities and dispositions of his hearers. He knew how much they were able to bear-when it was necessary to produce evidence, or to leave obscurity-how to touch by suitable motives all the hidden springs of action-and by appropriate illustration, to remove prejudices, and dissolve doubts, and satisfy desires concealed in the minds of the owners, who finding the secrets of the heart made manifest,' were filled with admiration, and exclaimed never man spake like this man'-Thus Physician, heal thyself;'-he spake fearless of the reproach of his hearers, and unchecked by the reflections of his own conscience. "He had all the authority flowing from miracles, and wonders, and 'signs.'—Think of a speaker, who could call forth the powers of heaven and earth, and establish his doctrine by their testimony-who could end his discourse, and say-all this is true; witness, ye winds and waves-and they cease from their raging.' Wit ness, ye blind-and they receive their sight.' Witness, ye deadand Lazarus comes forth.'- Rabbi, we know thou art a teacher sent 'from God: for no man can do these 'miracles which thou doest, except God be with him.' . "Consider his uncontrollable dominion. There is no place where his voice does not reign. He causes the most insensible creatures to hear it.In the original creation he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast." He appointetli the moon for seasons, and the sun knoweth his going down. The day is his, the night also is his :' he has made summer and winter:' and when he calls for them, they never refuse to come. Even the unruly sea acquiesces in his mandate; 'hitherto shalt thou come, and no further; and here shall thy proud waves be stayed.' The earth obeys the laws which he impressed upon it- The voice of the Lord is powerful: the voice of the Lord is full of majesty: the voice of the Lord breaketh the 'cedars: the voice of the Lord di 'videth the flames of fire: the voice of the Lord shaketh the wilderness.' Marvel not at this: for the hour is 'coming, in the which all that are ' in their graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth.'-Obeyed by all creatures he approaches, and ex-saith the Lord' should bring forth a pects your submission. Would you listening world; fathers and chilbe the only rebel in the universe? dren, princes and people, the wise Unlike all other beings, would you and the unlearned, the rich and the swerve from your station, and re- poor and none appears -- He nounce your allegiance? Harder than speaks, and we are regardless, rethe rock, and more senseless than gardless of a Speaker clothed with the dead, would you refuse to hear every kind of authority-who also his voice? speaks on our behalf, for our welfare, and whose language is hear, and your souls shall live.' This brings us from the authority of the Speaker, to consider what is equally included in the address, the orders of a master? Thy Teacher and shall disciples refuse the instructions of their teacher? Thy Benefactor-and have loving-kindnesses and tender mercies no claims?-0 wonderful beyond degree!— Thus "Consider the dignity of his character. Where the word of a king is there is power, and who may say 'unto him, what doest thou? The most magnificent titles are not too glorious to discriminate the Son of God. He had on his vesture, and on his thigh, a name written, King of kings, and Lord of lords.' Was Isaiah mistaken, when he said of the Child born, and the Son given,' the government shall be upon his 'shoulder, and his name shall be 'called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the everlasting Fa'ther, the Prince of Peace?' Did he exceed his own claims when he said, I am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the Ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty?' "And does he not stand in relations the most intimate and affecting He made us-placed us so high in the scale of being-endued our nature with reason and immortality. He sustains us in him we live, and 'move, and have our being'-his are all our possessions; and if there be a day, or an hour, in which he is regardless of you, you shall be inattentive to him. His demands are founded in the sun which shines upon you-in the friends you enjoy-in the bread which nourishes you-and above all, in the salvation you desire. He addresses you from the garden and the cross. Shall his voice be unheard? Shall such an authority be despised? Will you stand with Pharaoh, and impiously ask, Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice?'-Why He, in whose hands *thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways'-He who remembered thee in thy low estate'-He who gave 'his life a ransom' for thee-He is thy master-and shall servants disobey "II. The importance of the subject-He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.' Sometimes speakers promise their hearers more than they can perform, and excite expectations which they are unable to realize Jesus Christ is not afraid to awaken attention; he knows he can more than repay it; he knows we can never raise our minds to the grandeur of the subject. He does not trifle; his instructions are unspeakably interesting and important. In order to this, they must be true. And, my brethren, you cannot but acknow ledge that the reality of these things is possible-sometimes they strike you as probable, and much more frequently than you are willing to allow; hence your uneasiness, and hence your eagerness to bring forward your opinions to make prose. lytes, and to embolden your trembling faith by placing numbers around it. We affirm that these things are true-and observe where we stand when we affirm it--within view of evidences, numberless and convineing. There we appeal to a series of prophecies; and here to a train of miracles. There to the sublimity and holiness of the doctrine; here to the competency and goodness of the writers. There to the success of the gospel, destitute of every worldly recommendation, and in the face of the most powerful opposition; here to the blood of the best of men, and the consent of the wisest men-for we stand not only near the fishermen of Galilee, but a multitude of pre-eminent genius and learning, when we say we have not followed cunning |