The master was fixed upon, not from any consideration of his religious principles, but chiefly on account of his reputation for being a clever workman. Nominally he was a churchman, as to his profession of religion": but his churchmanship consisted principally in expressions of contempt for all "Methodists," as he called all that were Disseuters, and in attending the parish church, once perhaps in a month. This observance of religious forms, was only as time could be spared from the supposed indispensable calculations for the business of the following week, and the contrivance of new patterns in the fancy articles of his trade, the making up of his accounts, and the amusements of his garden. A Bible his master did not possess, for several years after William had been bound apprentice. William was now separated altogether from his old school-fellows, and kept with an excessive degree of strictness, partly on account of so many youths being drawn away into evil courses by their having too much liberty, and partly on account of numbers being enticed to enlist to serve in the army or navy. He was scarcely allowed to be from his master's house, even on a Sunday, except in going to church and returning from it, twice in the day. William was conscientiously observant of his master's requisitions in this respect; though the measure of restraint imposed was very far from being perfectly agreeable to him; because, being a lively youth, he had formed many acquaintances among those of his own age, and in his neighbourhood, to whom their friends allowed a much greater degree of liberty than he enjoyed. But this license proved, in most instances, the lamentable occasion of their ruin; while, through the gracious providence of God, his restraints were the means of promoting his eternal welfare. His parents, soon afterwards, removed to a considerable distance from Birmingham; and being thus cut off from intercourse with others, beyond his master's family, his moments of leisure were employed in a manner, which, under the Divine direction and blessing, became the effectual means of the greatest mental and moral advantage. William had never ranked among the lowest and most lawless youths in the neighbourhood in which he lived; nor was he distinguished by any remarkable habits of depravity; yet he had formed acquaintances with those, whose tongues could utter profane language, and who could even defile their juvenile lips with oaths and cursing. Indeed, he began himself to adopt some of their less shocking expressions; and what might have been the consequences of such association, had not the merciful providence of God removed him from such company, cannot possibly be conjectured by the liveliest imagination. Before entering into the family of his master, a circumstance transpired too interesting to be entirely passed over in this place. William had been solicited, by one of the younger boys in the manufactory, to go with him to the Methodist Sunday school in Livery Street, assuring him, that he could get him admitted without any difficulty, and that the business and lessons of the school would be found delighful. The engagements and operations of a Sunday school, were altogether a novelty to William. He had only heard of their existence, and he wished to become acquainted with their exercises. His parents consented to his request; his mother took him before the committee, and he was admitted. The teachers finding that William could read well in the Bible, and that he had been better instructed than was supposed by the committee, conferred among themselves, and after some inquiry from him as to his former advantages at school, and further deliberation, observed to him, that "he was not a proper object of their care: but that they would be happy for him to remain as an assistant in teaching the younger boys." Proud of such a distinction at the age of only thirteen years, William was delighted with the proposal, and continued for several months an assistant teacher, until he went to reside in his master's family. Such a connection and employment would not be allowed by his master, and William left his situation of teacher in the Sunday school with sincere regret. That William became truly converted to God, by repentance for sin and faith in Jesus Christ, during the few months of his engagement in the Methodist Sunday school, is not presumed: but there, for the first time in his life, he beheld men, who were not public ministers of religion, kneel in prayer to God, and former convictions were somewhat deepened on his mind, or a class of impressions and feelings was produced at that time, which was never entirely destroyed. These exercises recommended religion to him, and elevated the Bible more distinctly and prominently before him, as the inspired word of God; the reading of which, under this renewed impression, operated as a salutary check upon the depraved passions and affections, and issued at length in a decided persuasion of the reality and divinity of the glorious Gospel, and in a public profession of self-dedication to God, in discipleship to Jesus Christ. (To be continued.) ON THE RIGHT USE AND APPLICATION OF KNOWLEDGE : The substance of an address lately delivered to the Mechanics of Manchester, at their Institution in that town, by JOSEPH JOHN GURNEY. FRIENDS AND FELLOW COUNTRYMEN, In presenting myself to this large aud intelligent assembly, I feel that I ought, as a stranger, to apologize for such an intrusion on your time and attention, especially since the subject on which I propose to treat, is one of so large a compass and of such high importance. Undoubtedly, it will be generally allowed, that on nothing does the welfare of our species more clearly or certainly depend, than on the right use and application of knowledge. en The only apology, however, which I have to offe, is, that I am a sincere friend to the diffusion of useful knowledge of every description; and shall be glad at all times to promote the general object pursued by this and similar institutions. The principles which tertain on the subject, forbid my making any distinction between the different classes of society; for whatsoever may be our situation in life, it appears to me to be our plain duty to ourselves, to our neighbour, and above all to our bountiful Creator, to make as diligent a use as lies in our power of the nobler part of manto improve and cultivate our mental faculties. True indeed it is, that even in our intellectual pursuits, there are dangerous temptations, especially to pride and self-conceit; according to the declaration of the apostle Paul-a wise and learned man in his day" knowledge puffeth up." But I consider that this declaration peculiarly applies to slight and superficial knowledge, and that we shall find one remedy for our vanity, in the deepening and extending of our researches after truth. Those who are most profound in philosophy, and most largely instructed in useful learning, are generally distinguished by a low view of their own attainments. In confirmation of this remark, I need only remind you of Sir Isaac Newton - that prince of astronomers and mathematicians — that firm friend also to religion and virtue-whose matchless powers of mind were so remarkably accompanied with humility and modesty; these, indeed, were the crown and honour of his character. I do not wish to enter upon any metaphysical definitions of knowledge. On the present occasion I use the word simply as denoting that information, which, under the government of our gracious Creator, men are able to obtain from any source, on any subject. Knowledge, in this familiar sense of the term, admits of a division into four great branches. First, experimental, and philosophical; secondly, mathematical; thirdly, historical; and fourthly-above all—moral and religious. In the present stage of this address I shall lay aside the consideration of the fourth branch-I mean revealed religion-not because I am insensible to its claims, for I am convinced in my inmost soul of its supreme importance; but I consider it best, in the first instance, to confine my views to the preceding branches-those which are so laudably pursued in this institution. EXPERIMENTAL KNOWLEDGE is that information of every kind which we obtain from our own personal observation. Every one knows that it is extremely various that it rests on the evidence of our sensesand that it is stored in the mind by the united powers of perception, reflection, and memory. Under this class we must include the different branches of natural philosophy: for it is now universally understood, that science can be rightly founded only on the observation of the phenomena of nature. An extensive and careful examination of effects enables the philosopher to discover causes; from a multitude of particular examples he forms his general conclusions; and thus he erects a well-founded system of natural science. The philosophical knowledge which we thus obtain is more or less certain, just in proportion to the opportunities which we enjoy, in any particular science, of an extensive and accurate examination of facts. Many of the conclusions of natural philosophy some even which are very generally admitted-amount only to probabilities. Others, in a practical point of view, may safely be regarded as certainties. But on what basis do all these conclusions rest? On various first truths, or elements of knowledge, which the philosopher is obliged to take for granted, and which are utterly incapable of proof. One of these elements is the actual existence of those external objects, about which it is the province of science to inquire. Although it is impossible to demonstrate this truth, our nature compels us to admit it, and admitted universally it certainly is; for even a Berkeley and a Hume, whose sophistry delighted in reducing all visible things to phantoms of the mind, would have been just as eager to escape from the falling rock or from the lion's jaw, as the most credulous of their fellow-men. Another first truth, essential to philosophy, is, that every phenomenon of nature which we can trace to a beginning, or in other words every effect, has a cause adequate to its production. This is a truth which no man can prove, but which every man is compelled to believe. The belief of it is wrought by the hand of God into the constitution of our nature. You will observe, therefore, my friends-and you cannot deny it-that natural philosophy itself, in the various branches of which you take so warm an interest, affords you no knowledge whatsoever, but that which is founded on faith. MATHEMATICAL KNOWLEDGE. - But does the same remark apply to the second branch of knowledge? does it apply to those pure and perfect sciencesastronomy for example-in which our conclusions rest, not merely on our own fallible powers of obser vation, but on that which precludes the possibility of mistake, mathematical demonstration? Assuredly it does ; because the soundness even of mathematical calculation and reasoning depends on the truth of certain axioms, which are always supposed and taken for granted, but can never be proved. One of these axioms is familiar to us all that the whole is greater than the part. I defy the most ingenious student among you to demonstrate this axiom, either by a chain of reasoning, or by any other mens. You will tell me, perhaps, that we have perpetual ocular proof of it-that it is demonstrated by the sight, and by the touch. But do a man's senses never deceive him? Can he always trust the vision of his eye, or the sensation of his finger? I have already observed, that the very existence of the things which we see and touch, is one of the articles of natural belief. The plain fact is, that we are sure the axiom in question is true, because an intuitive conviction of its truth forms part of the nature which God has given us. It is far from my intention by these remarks to attempt to involve any of your minds in perplexing and useless doubts-in that hopeless and heartless Pyrrhonism which is productive of nothing but misery and folly. I am desirous only that we may be led to take a right view of the very constitution and condition of our being. The voice of nature is, in this case, the voice of God. Well may we be humbled under a reverential feeling of the wisdom and power of our Creator, who has ordained that the first elements of all our knowledge should be received by faith in that voice on his own supreme and irresistible authority. Here I will mention the name of another celebrated person, to whom every mechanics' institution in the kingdom is deeply indebted; I mean Lord Bacon, the father of inductive philosophy-the man who raised science with a master-hand, and placed her on her feet! The poet describes him as the “greatest, wisest, meanest of mankind," and his history affords many lamentable proofs, that great learning and unbending virtue are far from being inseparable companions. Unhappily he truckled to power at the cost of principle; and sure I am, that were he now living, he would, notwithstanding all his science, be little popular among the reformers of Manchester. Yet he was a person of profound reasoning powers and of singular wisdom; firm to uphold both reason and faith, yet skilful to distinguish their respective uses. And what says Lord Bacon respecting the knowledge of philosophy? He says, "It is an assured truth and a conclusion of experience, that a little or superficial knowledge of philosophy may incline the mind of man to atheism, but a further proceeding therein doth bring the mind back again to religion." (To be continued.) ANECDOTE OF THE LATE REV. DR. HAWKER. man A young Clergyman once requested permission of Dr. Hawker to take his pulpit in his absence from home. "I must hear you first," said the venerable The time was fixed, and the young man ascended the pulpit the Doctor sitting in the reading desk below, "Well," said the young man, at the conclusion of the service, "I hope you liked my sermon." The Doctor made this pointed, though somewhat plain answer. My young friend, if I must sweat, I would very much rather sweat in preaching than in hearing.” It is unnecessary to add, that permission was not given to the young man to take the Doctor's pulpit in his absence. Letters to a Mother, upon Education. LETTER VIII. Dear Madam, THE subject next in order, which I have proposed to myself to consider, is that of the cultivation of what is called the moral principle, or those principles by which mankind are directed to the adoption of right conduct. The subject is of the first importance: it likewise embraces a vast extent. It might on these accounts, and especially the latter, seem incapable of being treated unless in a continued dissertation, and difficult of being understood. Nevertheless I apprehend that the primary rules, which relate to this supremely important topic, are comparatively few in number. During the earliest portion of a child's existence, he is incapable of understanding rules and motives, and inust accordingly be kept out of inischief as if he were a mere inanimate being. As soon, however, as he becomes able to observe and to think, it is important that you should endeavour at the establishment of moral principle. Accordingly, as soon as possible, explain to him the reasons of his various duties. Our Creator intended that the conduct of man should be directed by the mind of man. But the mind will not long continue to direct his conduct, unless it comprehends and approves the reasons which render one species of conduct different from another. On the other hand, obedience is likely to be cheerful and steadfast, in proportion as it is intelligent. There is also the best reason for believing, that the obedience of the mind is the only species of obedience approved by the Deity. Hence therefore the necessity that your child, and every other person in the world, should act, not so much from habit as from conviction. Allow me thus to illustrate my meaning. Suppose a child never to go to bed without saying its prayers, and that the strongest reason of the performance of the act is, that he has been so habituated to it that he would feel uneasy in mind without it. Suppose, on the other hand, a child to perform the same duty under the influence of the conviction that God has commanded all men everywhere to pray that prayer is efficacious as a means of procuring blessings-that consequently he can obtain no real good except by praying for it;-I need scarcely ask you which of these two children would be likely to be most earnest and most frequent in the duty of prayer. It is just the same with every duty. Teach a child or a man why he should act in any supposed manner, and he will be most likely to act so cordially and perpetually. On the other hand, should his virtues consist simply of the force of habit, I fear that they would yield before the force of passion. Our passions of every kind can only be controlled by the dominion of a sanctified and enlightened mind. I shall now proceed to state a few of the rules advisable to be adopted. 1. Always endeavour to exhibit duty as rational and beneficial, and therefore as desirable Endeavour to convince him that the law of God is holy, equitable, and benevolent. That accordingly no action whatever is hurtful because it is forbidden, but forbidden because it is hurtful. That God has been actuated simply by the wish to promote human happiness in the moral requirements of the Scriptures; that in proportion as we could practise them we should be happy; and that every even the slightest deviation from them tends to misery. Often converse with him upon such topics, and show him the tendency of an action to produce happiness or misery. Show him how virtue tends to happiness and vice to misery. 2. Teach him to calculate the consequences of any action becoming general, and to estimate its moral nature accordingly. There, for instance, is a tempting apple tree and why may 1 not step over that little hedge, or break through it, and take one of those brilliant pippins that hang in such numbers as to weigh down the branches, and actually to have fallen off, and to lie upon the ground in numbers? Teach him to reason thus: that if I might do it, any one might do it. Make him ever know and feel, that every one in the world might do whatever it would be lawful for him to do. Annihilate the idea that he has a privilege beyond any one else, or that any one has a privilege beyond himself. If then every person might take one of those apples, the gardener, who gets his bread and feeds and clothes his family by taking his apples and other fruit to market, would have no apples to sell, and could get no money to buy food and clothing. Ramify every action through all its consequences, and then show him that they are good or evil as the consequences are desirable or the contrary. Teach him to illustrate the principle to you in a thousand ways. He will soon understand you, and surprise you with illustrations for your rule. Nor is it one of the least benefits of your procedure, that while you are establishing a moral principle in the mind of your child, you will find that you are enlightening and confirming your own. 3. In all your explanations of duty, teach him to reason down to the minutest consequences, and let him be taught that there are no exceptions—that duty is rigid in the extreme degree that it is absolutely exclusive. For instance: Some of the apples lying on the ground under that tree are spoiling for want of being taken away. Might I not take one of them? Had I not better eat it than allow it to decay and become useless? Show him that every body else would have as good a right as himself to do so, and that if every body did, the gardener would only have the fruit which hung upon his trees to live by, and that every high wind or other accident might endanger his livelihood. I propose these instances as patterns for the multiform illustrations which you will adopt. 4. It is impossible to assign a better or more general rule than that of our Redeemer-"Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye unto them." Instances will daily occur that will give you an opportunity. For instance; some boys of the village have built a little grotto beneath the wall of your garden. Your son, with the desire so native to the human heart, of causing surprise and of enjoying merriment at the expense of others, climbs into a tree which overhangs the little group and the object of their amusement, and lets a stone fall upon the centre of the little illuminated cave, and shatters its fragile construction, and extinguishes the light. Here would be an occasion, though I should hope it never would occur, yet I have seen a little boy do it, in which you should take him into the most quiet room of your house, and wait till his thoughtless mirth had subsided, and then put the question to his heart, whether he would have liked to have been so treated. Confine his attention to this point, and make him answer you. You have then an opportunity for appealing to his feelings. But your stronghold upon him will be this one truth, that he has no right to act towards any human being in any manner in which he would not like for any human being to act towards himself. Lastly, appeal to the inward sense of right and wrong which operates whenever the object of that sense is fairly brought before its view. Turn his view to the moral loveliness of a right conduct, and to the odiousness of impropriety of every kind. Make him understand that he will always feel unhappy when he has done wrong, and make him dread the reproaches of his heart. It is indeed useful in some cases to add the motive drawn from the love of approbation. Let him know how others will dislike him if he behaves himself ill, and love him if he acts with propriety. If an ultimate rule be needed, tell him that society will discard him, or compel him to do right. The little boy I alluded to was reasoned with in vain upon the preceding principles the first time that he had spoiled the grotto of the children, and soon after climbed the tree for the same purpose; when one of the boys below saw him, and aimed a stone, which struck him a severe blow upon the forehead. He came, indignant and suffering from pain, to complain of what he considered this outrage, which had evidently, however, brought him somewhat to his senses. The person who had previously reasoned with him now replied, after hearing the complaint against the boys, “Ay, to be sure, and you will find, that if you will not do as you ought to do, people will make you." He felt the application of the argument he had nothing to say - his own heart confirmed the verdict of society-he burst into tears of remorse. Every filament in the cable is of use: and arguments on morals derived from every source are useful. Where those which are derived from the innate excellence of virtue fail, that taken from the fiat of society may answer; though if the former be duly and early inculcated and explained, there will be no need ever to apply to the latter. I am, dear Madam, yours, &c. CLERICUS. REFLECTIONS ON AUTUMN. THE returning seasons afford a subject for useful meditation both to the moralist and to the Christian. Spring with its opening buds, summer with its flowery prime, autumn with its horn of plenty, and winter with its chilling snows, present to us a manifest illustration of the different stages of human exiɛtence. But autumn perhaps offers to our minds the most edifying lesson for consideration. Spring breaks up the ice of winter, and renews creation with a flowery robe; and then summer clothes the trees and the fields, scattering a vast profusion over the earth; but scarcely are we permitted to dwell upon the beauty and luxuriance, when the autumn of the year comes round, and all nature fades. The withered foliage drops from the branches, and each leaf, as it falls, seems to admonish us of our own approaching decay. The trees, which had not long ago reached their maturity, now stand despoiled of their richest verdure. How similar is the result of all our pursuits after earthly pleasure! We labour diligently to obtain some fancied good; and at the very moment when we gain possession of it, discover its fallacy, and our own folly. Autumn, too, is the time when the stores of nature are gathered in, to be laid up in store for the support of nature during barren winter: and if in our manhood we forbear to furnish our minds with religious principles and divine knowledge, but neglect the Saviour and His great salvation freely published in the Gospel, we shall have nothing to support our spirits during the inactivity and gloom of age, when we stand most in need of spiritual consolation. In a little space of time, we shall have the snows of the natural winter falling around us; and ere long, too, the feeble limbs and the silvery locks will tell us, that the close of our mortal life is at hand. Oh! that we may not then be compelled to say, “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved;" but, on the contrary, may we be now inclined, so to improve the golden opportunities that are richly afforded us, as to be able then to anticipate an eternal spring of felicity and glory in heaven ! M. N. CHRISTIAN IDOLA TRY. Mr. Editor, As an ardent well-wisher to your valuable Magazine, and a constant reader of its instructive pages, permit me to offer a few lines for your insertion, if you think fit, on a subject you have lately considered in several successive Nunbers the subject of Idolatry. There is not a more convincing proof, both of the reality and the depth of human depravity, than the existence of this monstrous sin: a sin, of which we, from the nature of our education, can form but very inadequate conceptions. It is (at least I find it so) very dif ficult to conceive how a rational being can bring himself to fall down and worship the work of his own hands; and were not the fact so lamentably demonstrative, it would to our minds appear altogether incredible. Though, however, the inhabitants of Christian Britain may not be chargeable with the sin of idolatry in its literal meaning, yet doubtless all those must plead guilty of this abomination as to its principle, who devote their chief regard to any object but the ever-blessed God, and set upon the throne of their hearts any creature, instead of the Creator, who alone is worthy to be loved and served with all the heart, and soul, and mind, and strength. The covetous man, says St. Paul, is an idolater (Eph. v, 5), evidently because he makes riches the chief object of his regard, saying unto gold, Thou art my hope, and unto fine gold, Thou art my confidence." The gay worldling, the man of fashion, and the sensualist, are all manifestly guilty of the same sin, inasmuch as they are "lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God." Must we not also include many of the more estimable members of society, whose walk and conversation is in many respects lovely and of good report?" Does not a sinful anxiety for the gratification of those around us, often exclude from the thoughts that God in whom we live and move and have our being, and whose glory ought to be our chief aim and end in all things? It were well if we could stop even here. Enter the church of God, and see if there be not in that hallowed place many visible spots of the same plague. To specify only one: - What shall we think of the eagerness with which one minister of Christ is followed on all occasions - on the ground of his talents, or not unfrequently from some peculiarity that does him no honour to the neglect of others who preach with equal fidelity the same Gospel? Is not this making an idol of Paul, and Apollos, and Cephas? Is it not preferring the messenger to his message? Does it not resemble the crowding of a theatre to witness the performances of a favourite actor? The subject is copious, and might be pursued much further: but I forbear to enlarge in your columns, and will therefore conclude by suggesting, that while we thus register the faults of our brethren, it is equally our duty and our interest to turn our view inward; and then we shall no doubt discover" chambers of imagery" in ourselves, that may well humble us in the dust, and lead us to pray with the Psalmist, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." "It is the sinner's love of sin that makes him hate Christ. Does this form an excuse for his sin? No? no more than drunkenness would be an excuse for murder. One sin is not an excuse for another sin." MONUMENTAL INSCRIPTION FOR ESTHER, ESTHER, or Hadassah, who, through her beauty and accomplishments, was raised from the condition of a captive to the throne of Persia, is too little known to many. Her name gives a title to one of the inspired books in the Bible, in which we behold an extraordinary display of Divine providence in favour of the exiled Jews. We have no particulars concerning the sequel of her history given in the sacred volume, nor do we know when or where this distinguished lady terminated her mortal course. That we have no information relating to the subsequent condition of Esther, will not appear surprising when we reflect upon the book so called being only a "translated extract from the memoirs of the reign of the Persian monarch Ahasuerus." This will also enable us to account satisfactorily for the name of God being omitted in this book: the same consideration will also account for the Persian word "Purim " being retained; for the Jews being mentioned only in the third person; for Esther being so frequently designated as "Queen;" and Mordecai her uncle being called by the epithet of "the Jew." The same will also account for those numerous parentheses which interrupt the narrative, in order to subjoin the illustrations which were necessary for a Jewish reader; and for the abrupt termination of the memoir by one sentence relative to the power of Ahasuerus, and another concerning the greatness of Mordecai. Sir Robert Ker Porter, a few years ago, in his travels, visited Ecbactana (Achmetha, Ezra vi, 2), the ancient capital of Media, and the summer residence of the Persian kings. Near to the new city, Hamadan, he was shown the tomb of Mordecai and Esther. It is covered by a dome, on which is the following inscription in Hebrew: "This day, 15th of the month Adar, in the year 4474 from the creation of the world, was finished the building of this temple over the graves of Mordecai and Esther, by the hands of the good-hearted brothers, Elias and Samuel, the sons of the deceased Ismael of Kashan." Sir Robert gives the following description of this tomb. "I accompanied the priest through the town, over much ruin and rubbish, to an enclosed piece of ground, rather more elevated than any in its immediate vicinity. In the centre was the Jewish tomb; a square building of brick, of a mosque-like form, with a rather elongated dome at the top. The whole seems in a very decaying state, falling fast to the mouldering condition of some wall fragments around, which, in former times, had been connected with, and extended the consequence of, the sacred enclosure. The door that admitted us into the tomb, is in the ancient sepulchral fashion of the country, very small; consisting of a small stone of great thickness, and turning on its own pivots from one side. Its key is always in possession of the head of the Jews, resident at Hamadan."-"On passing through the little portal, which we did in an almost doubled position, we entered a small arched chamber, in which are seen the graves of several rabbis; probably, one may cover the remains of the pious Ismael and, not unlikely, the other may contain the bodies of the first rebuilders after the sacrilegious destruction by Timour. Having trod lightly by their graves, a second door, of such very confined dimensions, presented itself at the end of the vestibule, we were constrained to enter it on our hands and knees, and then standing up, we found ourselves in a large chamber, to which appertained the doine. Immediately under its concave, stand two sarcophagi, made of a very dark wood, carved with great intricacy of pattern and richness of twisted ornament, with a line of inscription in Hebrew, running round the upper ledge of each." MONUMENTAL INSCRIPTION ON ESTHER. The inscription in Hebrew characters, of the celebrated queen of Persia, is as follows:-"I praise Thee, O God, that Thou hast created me! I know that my sins merit punishment, yet I hope for mercy at thy hands for whenever I call upon Thee, Thou art with me; thy holy presence secures me from all evil. My heart is at ease, and my fear of Thee increases. My life became, through thy goodness, at the last, full of peace. O God, do not shut my soul out from thy divine presence! Those whom Thou lovest, never feel the torments of hell. Lead me, O merciful Father, to the life of life; that I may be filled with the heavenly fruits of Paradise !-ESTHER." MONUMENTAL INSCRIPTION ON MORDECAI. The inscription in Hebrew characters, on the sarcophagus of Mordecai, is to the following effect:-" It is said by David, Preserve me, O God! I am now in thy presence. I have cried at the gate of heaven, that Thou art my God; and what goodness I have received from Thee, O Lord! Those whose bodies are now beneath in this earth, when animated by thy mercy, were great; and whatever happiness was bestowed upon them in this world, came from Thee, O God! Their grief and sufferings were many at the first; but they became happy, because they always called upon thy holy name in their miseries. Thou liftedst me up, and I became powerful. Thine enemies sought to destroy me, in the early times of my life; but the shadow of thy hand was upon me, and covered me as a tent, from their wicked purposes !-MORDECAL" Many other inscriptions," says Sir Robert, “in the same language, are cut on the walls; while one, of the oldest antiquity, engraved on a slab of white marble, is let into the wall itself." This inscription relates to the uncle of Esther, and is as follows:-"Mordecai, beloved and honoured by a king, was great and good. His garments were as those of a sovereign. Ahasuerus covered him with this rich dress, and also placed a golden chain around his neck. The city of Susa rejoiced at his honours, and his high fortune became the glory of the Jews." PSALM XXX, VER. 5. "In his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." Though dark and though drear be the night, Thy tears for the night may endure, But joy in the morning shall spring; That thou art a Father to me. S. F. W. "In the present day the stream of religion is said to be broad and not deep: yet, blessed be God, it is broad." |