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individuals is" wanting in a clear perception of fundamental truths, in a resolute performance of plain duties, and in a firm faith on the divine promises."

At Mr. J.'s interviews with the Bishop of Smyrna the conversation chiefly turned on the variations between the Greek and Western churches. The Bishop stated five points of difference: 1. Baptism, which the Greeks administer by immersion-2. The Procession of the Holy Ghost-8. Purgatory

co-operation would expose their own characters to the suspicion of their less liberal neighbours. Still this part of the world presented a sphere of action not to be overlooked in the present age of Missionary energy; and the Church Missionary Society determined on sending out a "Literary Representative," for the purpose of acquiring "information relative to the state of Religion and of Society, with the best means of its meliorationand the propagation of Christian Knowledge, by the Press, by Jour-4. the Pope's supremacy-5. nies, and by Education." These objects were wise and good, and the choice of a Representative is amply justified by this most interesting summary of Mr. Jowett's active and enlightened labours. Since, for obvious reasons, Missionary establishments were not likely, in the present state of things, to produce a decidedly be neficial result, even if favourable positions could have been secured, it became expedient to employ the other powerful agents which Providence has placed at the disposal of evangelical associations; and, for the operation of these, the present journey seems to have ascertained several advantageous openings.

Mr. Jowett's inquiries obtained for him a considerable collection of materials, illustrative of the actual state of the Latin, Greek, and Coptic, including the Abyssinian, churches, but concerning the first of these communities, he has, from prudential motives, said very little. In each of them he found, among many superstitious, many hypocritical, and not a few covertly unbelieving, some sincere inquirers, both Ecclesiastics and Laics, "who sigh for a better state of things, but who sigh almost in secret,' and are withheld by timidity, indolence, or despondency, from acting up to their principles and their desires. "Generally speaking," observes Mr. Jowett, this class of

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The use of unleavened bread in the Sacrament. Mr. Jowett, of course, disavowed those particulars in which our national establishment differs from the Church of Rome; but, in a subsequent discussion, the procession of the Holy Ghost from the Father and the Son, was specifically pressed as an insuperable bar to communion. Mr. Jowett treated it as a matter which might be put out of consideration, as by no means a sufficient ground of separation; but the Smyrniote dignitary refused to take it in that light." With us," said he, "it is considered as a great blasphemy, a very great one." One of the most injurious peculiarities of the discipline of the Greek Church, lies in the system of absolution; this, as administered to those who have gone through the prescribed routine of devotions at the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem, amounts to a plenary indulgence.

"

"Of one of these documents, brought by a worshipper from Jerusalem, the author took a copy. The use which the man made of it was this:-Whenever he designed to confess, he had this Form of Absolution read over to him again, by the priest to whom he confessed; and this

was considered to renew and revive all the pardoning virtue, which it possessed at its first delivery. The following is a literal translation of the paper :

"Polycarp, by the mercy of God, Patriarch of the Holy City, Jerusalem, and of all Palestine.

"Our Holiness-according to that grace, gift, and authority of the most Holy and Life-giving Spirit, which was

given by our Saviour Jesus Christ, to his holy Disciples and Apostles, for the binding and loosing of the sins of men, as he said unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost! Whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them: whosesoever ye retuin, they are retained unto them: and whatsoever ye shall bind and loose on earth, shall be bound and loosed in heaven: which divine grace has descended, in succession, from them to us-holds, as pardoned, our spiritual son Emmanuel, Worshipper-in regard to all the sins, which, through human frailty, he hath committed; and all his failings toward God, in word, or deed, or thought, willingly or unwillingly, and in all his senses. Or, if he hath been under any curse or excommunication of bishop or priest, or of his father or mother, or hath fallen under his own anathema, or hath foresworn himself, or hath been overtaken in any other sins through human frailty, he having confessed the same to Spiritual Fathers, and heartily received and earnestly purposed to fulfil the injunction prescribed to him by them-from all these sins, whether of omission or commission, we loose him, and do account him free and pardoned, through the Almighty authority and grace of the Most Holy Spirit. And whatsoever, through forgetfulness, he hath left unconfessed, all this also may the Merciful God forgive him, for His own bounty and goodness' sake, through the ministrations of our most blessed Lady Mother-of-God and ever-Virgin, Mary, of the holy, glorious, and laudable Apostle James, Brother-ofGod, first Bishop of Jerusalem, and of all the Saints! Amen."-pp. 25--26.

The following clear statement will more than justify our assertion that the Greeks are on the verge of idolatry.

"With respect to the rites of public worship, it is well known that the Greeks do not admit the use of images into their churches; but they make up the deficiency with a multitude of pictures, on pannels of wood, all round the church; and to these likenesses,' no less than the Latins to their graven images,' they pay a most profound respect-bowing, touching them, kissing them, and crossing themselves before them.

"The fervour of their devotion to the saints is not less remarkable. If a man is ill, or meets with any misfortune, he makes a vow to some saint, that if he will

recover him, he will make him an offering of a lamp of oil. 'What,' I have often asked, 6 can the saints do for you? Had you not better pray to God?' The answer has always been, But if we pray to the saints, the saints will speak to God for us.' I have quoted to them that

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striking passage of St. Paul, which, one might have imagined, should have for ever precluded this abuse :-There is ONE Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus; and asked where in Scripture we are taught to pray to saints. They have replied, In the Psalms.' Some of the passages which they allege as illustrative of this subject, are as follows:

"In Psalm iv. 3, the Greek of the Septuagint will bear translating thus

But know this, that the Lord hath rendered marvellous his holy one :' which our translation thus renders-But know that the Lord hath set apart him that is godly for himself.

"Their next passage is Psalm xvi. 3; which may bear rendering, God hath made his saints, which are in the earth, marvellous.'

"But the passage considered to be the strongest, is that in the lxviiith Psalm: Θαυματὸς ὁ Θεὸς ἐν τοῖς ̔Αγίοις avrou-in our Bible, O God, thou art terrible out of thy holy places: but they would render it, Marvellous is God in (or by) his saints.'

"Wherever the word Javua, or any of its derivatives, occurs, they have learnt to interpret it of miracles.' Thus, to them, the last passage plainly carries the sense, "God has worked miracles by his saints.' Scepticism on this point is viewed, by many of the more ignorant, as equivalent to a disbelief of Christianity. I have, therefore, in conversing with them, always admitted all that I safely could; quoting especially scriptural examples; and adding, Who can doubt but that God has often worked miracles

by his saints? But this does not prove that such an one, or such another, had been thus honoured. Least of all does it prove, that we are right in praying to the saints ; which is not commanded in any of these passages quoted from the Psalms.'

"By members both of the Greek and Latin churches, I have frequently been asked what our church declares respect

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ing the Ilavayía, or Most Holy,' which is the title given by them to the Blessed Virgin. I have replied, consider that prophecy, and every other purpose, were sufficiently accomplished in her being a virgin till Christ was born: after that the Scripture speaks obscurely, and the point is immaterial: therefore our church declares nothing.'-' But,' they reply, we look to her as the great Mediatrix all our prayers pass through her to God.' To this effect, indeed, both their public services and their most eloquent sermons, continually tend." pp. 31-33.

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The following description of a

Greek funeral is extremely interesting, and we shall close with it our elucidations of the Eastern creed and ritual.

"In Smyrna, long funeral processions are performed by the Greeks: and the publicity of this Christian rite seems reverently to be allowed, in the midst of their Mussulman oppressors Visiting, on one occasion, the learned master of the public school, Economus the Presbyter, our conversation was interrupted by the approach of the procession of a deceased Greek of some consequence, over whom Economus was to preach a funeral sermon, in the adjoining metropolitan church. I went with him. It was very affecting, to see the corpse lying in an open coffin, with the ordinary dress of life; that is, the loose flowing Greek robes; on his head, the kalpac, a large and cumbrous head-dress, commonly worn; and the face exposed. The sight made me shudder; and so did the indifference, which habit has produced on the minds of the byestanders.

"Economus preached a sermon of twenty minutes' length. He spoke of the dead in an attic style of compliment, under the title of ò μaкápios. He concluded his sermon, by breaking out into that awful service which the Greek church has for the dead, and in which the congregation in a murmuring voice joined. It is an invitation to relatives and friends to bid their final adieu :

"Come, brethren, and let us give the last embrace to the deceased, thanking God! He hath left his kindred-he is borne to the grave-no longer heeding the things of vanity, and of the burdensome flesh. Where now are kindred and friends? Now we are separated: whom let us pray the Lord to take to

rest!

"What a separation, O brethren! What woe, what wailing on the present change! Come then, let us embrace him who a little while ago was with us. He is consigned to the grave-he is covered with a stone-his abode is with darkness -he is buried with the dead! Now we are separated: whom let us pray the Lord to take to his rest!

"Now all the evil and vain festivity of life is dissolved: for the spirit hath left its tabernacle-the clay hath become black-the vessel is broken, speechless, void of feeling, dead, motionless: whom consigning to the grave, let us pray the Lord to give him rest for ever.

"Truly, like a flower, and as a vapour, and as morning dew, is our life. Come then, let us look down narrowly into the grave. Where is the comeliness of the body, and where is youth?

Where are the eyes, and the beauty of the flesh? All are withered like grassall are vanished. Come then, let us fall before Christ in tears.

"Looking upon the dead laid out, let us all take account of our last change; for this man is carried forth, as smoke from the earth-as a flower he is withered-as grass he is cut down-swathed in a winding sheet-covered with earth : whom leaving, now to be no more seen, let us pray to Christ that he will grant to him eternal rest.

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"Come hither, ye descendants of Adam! Let us behold committed to the earth one who was of our likeness-all his comeliness cast away-dissolved in the grave-food for worms-in darkness covered with earth!

"Come hither, brethren, to the grave; and see the ashes and dust of which we were formed! Whither now go we? And what have we been? What is the poor, or the rich; or what is the master or the free? Are we not all ashes? The beauty of the countenance is wasted, and death hath utterly withered the flower of youth, &c. &c.

"The embracing of the dead, then, and during the reciting of this service, takes place; for, as soon as the priests departed, many came, and, laying their hands on the two sides of the open coffin, kissed the cheeks and forehead of the deceased, with much emotion. When a bishop dies, and is laid out in this manner in the church, all the congregation throng to perform this ceremony.

"The corpse is now carried out into the church-yard. A slab lifted up, discovered to our view that the whole churchyard is hollow under ground. The body was put into a meaner wooden coffin, and lowered into the grave. I did not observe that they sprinkled earth upon it, as we do; but, instead of this, a priest concluded the ceremony by pouring a glass of water on the head of the corpse. I did not learn what this meant; but it brought to my mind that touching passage in 2 Sam. xiv. 14: For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again.

"It has been already remarked, in reporting a conversation with the Bishop of Smyrna, that the Greeks do not hold the Romish doctrine of purgatory. Yet they have commemorative prayers for the dead, performed both by the priests officially, and virtually also by their friends; the design of which it is difficult to define, unless they suppose the state of the deceased to be as yet undetermined, and the divine mercy possibly still to be moved by prayer."-pp. 38-41.

The Greeks have long been anxiously attentive to the education of

their youth, and their efforts have been attended with much success. At Haivali and Scio were celebrated and prosperous institutions, which are now, we suppose, utterly destroyed in the complete devastation which has visited those regions. A Romish Inquisitor and a Turkish Janizary have a nearly equal respect for literature, and sufficiently resemble each other in their propensity to make the sword or the stake a substitute for argument. The Mahometan, however, to do him justice, is the less hypocritical, and rather the more merciful of the two;-he cuts down his victim, but he does not insult him ;-he extirpates and enslaves, but he does not consume by lingering torture, nor does he affect to feel commiseration;-he goes to work with honest ferocity, neither mocks nor cajoles, but keeps a sharp edge on his scymitar, and values himself on the quickness and completeness with which he performs his task. And both quickly and completely was the task performed at Haivali. The inhabitants were rich and happy; they bribed their masters to gentle treatment, and enjoyed a large portion of practical liberty. Their school flourished; its library contained 700 or 800 volumes, among which was an entire set of the Greek classics; lectures, philological, historical, philosophical, and mathematical, the last from Sir Isaac Newton's works as a text

book, were given;-and all this is trampled down by the unrelenting Turk! But we pass from this painful subject with the expression of our heart's desire that the noble and unaided struggle of the Greeks may be successful, that they may break their chains, and stand up amid the nations of Europe, free, enlightened, and evangelized.

Mr. Jowett, in the years 1819 and 1820, paid two visits to Egypt, for the purpose of investigating the state of the Coptic churches.

About 20,000 families comprize the whole of this portion of the Egyptian population, which seems to be held in as much contempt by the Christians of other denominations, as the whole collective body is by its Turkish oppressors. We give, at full length, the following comprehensive and interesting description.

Patriarch; to whom I had a Letter of "At Caïro, I first visited the Coptic Introduction. The approach to his residence is through mean and narrow streets: the houses lofty, and apparently ready to fall; and the dust suffocating. On arriving at the door of his convent, the street is so narrow, that the ass on which I rode bad but just room to turn round in it. You enter the Patriarch's gate These circumby a very small wicket. stances display the humble condition, aud the timorous spirit, of the Christian church in Caïro.

"In the first court, there were about a dozen Coptic Priests collected, who were vehemently disputing. One who was the scribe, as I judged from his inkstand and from his receiving fees, beckoned me to sit by him. I said I wished to see the Patriarch, for whom I had a letter

"After some delay, I was taken across a second, and larger court, to the Patriarch's room. Here, after the ceremony of taking coffee, I observed, that on the

cushions, where we sat, were collected many church books, in Coptic and Arabic. Having presented him with an Arabic Bible and an Ethiopic Psalter, handsomely bound, which he accepted with manifest pleasure, I acquainted him with desire of visiting Upper Egypt; and requested a letter of introduction to the different churches: this he readily promised. On my intimating a request for

my

a list of the churches and convents in his

patriarchate, I found that, for some reason or other, the request was not agreeable to him; nor could I afterward obtain this from him, though I more than of Abyssinia as part of his partriarchate, once endeavoured to prevail. Speaking and opening the Ethiopic Psalter, he asked me if I could read it. On my replying in the negative, he said, with an air of great simplicity, "Nor can I." At this I was not surprised; yet it must seem a matter of regret, that the Patriarch governing the Abyssinian Church should be ignorant of their language.

Church. Episcopacy and the patriarchal "On Sunday, we went to the Coptic dignity are bere exhibited in humble guise. The church is in the Convent :

the approach to it is by winding avenues, narrow, and almost dark; on each side of which were seated, on the gronnd, the sick, the poor, the halt, the maimed, and the blind, asking alms, and scarcely leaving room for our feet to pass. Escaped from this scene, we entered the church, which was well lighted up with wax tapers. There is a recess for the Communion Table, where the priest, standing by himself, had already begun the service, in the Coptic language. Next to this was a considerable portion, latticed off, for the Patriarch, priests, and chief persons; and, behind these, the remainder of the church was occupied by a moving mass of people. The building seems to be about thirty feet square. We were squeezed into that part where the Patriarch and the priests stood; and I could not help feeling how inevitable contagion would be in such a situation, if the plague were in Caïro. I noticed, with grief, the irreverent behaviour of the congregation: they could not at all hear the priest, nor did they seem interested. Some little boys were standing, laughing and trifling, in the presence of the Patriarch; and though one of the priests reproved them, it seemed to make but little impression on them. We were all standing, and many, as is their custom, leaning on crutches. Some blind old men near me took great pleasure when joining in the responses at one part of the service, accompanied by the clangor of cymbals: this kind of performance was by no means musical: the Coptic is the only church wherein I have witnessed this custom, which accords literally with the words of the Psalmist, Praise Him with the loud cymbals. At length the Patriarch read, from a beautiful large manuscript, in Arabic, the gospel for the day. He made several mistakes: a little boy once, and at another time an old man standing by, corrected him; nor did the circumstance appear to excite the least 'surprise or confusion. The attention of the people was peculiarly fixed during this portion of the service: it seemed to me that they understood and valued it. Here also, as in the Coptic Church at Alexandria, I remarked that the old people, occasionally, with a low voice, accompanied the reading of the gospel. Who shall say that Christ was not present dimly seen, perhaps, yet felt with secret reverence and affection! Thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word.

"After this service, I spent some time, in a retired court of the Patriarch's, with him, and with Hanna Taouil, who is the lay head of the Coptic nation, and who offered to purchase of my Arabic Bibles as many as I could spare."-pp. 111113.

While Mr. Jowett was at Cairo, when sitting at dinner, at the table of the British Consul, the Italian servant came in with a tall man, dressed in sheep skins, who was eagerly inquiring for Englishmen; it proved to be Pearce, of whom so interesting an account is given in Mr. Salt's travels. Having resided in Abyssinia until the distracted state of the empire made farther stay unsafe, he had succeeded in reaching Cairo by the way of Massowah and Suez. Mr. J. visited the slave-market; place where man sells man!" It had not at that time more than thirty slaves, but many are disposed of without being exposed to public sale. From the journal of a voyage on the Nile, and the subsequent pages, we extract the following scriptural illustrations.

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"We observed the people making holes in the sandy soil on the side of the river. Into these holes they put a small quantity of pigeons' dung and feathers, with the seed of melons or cucumbers. The value of this manure is alluded to in 2 Kings vi. 25. The produce of this toil I had an opportunity of seeing, in due season; that is, the following month of June. Extensive fields of ripe melons and cucumbers then adorned the sides of the river. They grew in such abundance, that the sailors freely helped themselves. Some guard, however, is placed upon them. Occasionally, but at long and desolate intervals, we may observe a little hut, made of reeds, just capable of containing one man; being, in fact, little more than a fence against a north wind. In these I have observed, sometimes, a poor old man, perhaps lame, feebly protecting the property. It exactly illustrates Isaiah i. 8. And the daughter of Zion is left. . . . as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers. The abundance of these most necessary vegetables brings to mind the murmurs of the Israelites; Numbers xi. 5, 6. We remember .... the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick; but now our soul is dried away."-p. 127.

In every part of Egypt, we find the towns built in this manner, upon the ruins, or rather the rubbish of the former habitations. The expression in Jeremiah xxx. 18. literally applies to Egypt, in the very meanest sense-The city shall be builded upon her own heap: and the ex

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