did not by denying his better feelings make for himself a pleasant position-far from it; on the contrary, he wished much that he could give it up. He hints this in one of his letters. After having spoken of his gratitude for the kindness with which he had spoken to the king of his good intentions, regarding the work which was confided to him, he adds: "We do not cease to make all possible efforts here; but we advance but little, and our work in Paris would have a more speedy and apparent result." To Bossuet he speaks more openly. After having, as it would seem, already begged him to intercede for permission to return to Paris, he says to him, "Do not forget our returning with M. de Saignelai; but speak constantly of it to your master." On this occasion he again derides the practices of bigoted Catholics, to which he is obliged to lend himself, in order to evade the suspicion of not being a good Catholic. We must indeed congratulate Fénélon that he was soon after saved from the shipwreck of his better feelings, so sadly compromised in such a work. However, as concerns himself, Fénélon | Trent: "The reading of the Scriptures must only be allowed to the docile and humble-minded, who seek not to dispute, decide, or criticise, but to feed on them in silence. Finally, the Scriptures must only be given to those who, receiving them from the hands of the Church, desire only to find in them the opinions of the Church." The Bishop of Arras, struck with the numbers of passages in the fathers which recommend the reading and careful study of the Scriptures to the laity, asked Fénélon why the Church did not act in the same way in modern times. Fénélon replied, "In ancient times, when the community of the faithful was simple, docile, and attached to the instruction of their pastors, the sacred writings were intrusted to them, because it was seen that they were well instructed, and prepared to read them with advantage. In these later times, when they are presumptuous, critical, and unteachable, searching the Scriptures in order to calumniate them, and to deny their religion, or turning the Scriptures against their pastors, it has been necessary to forbid a reading, so beneficial in itself, but so dangerous in the abuse which many of the laity make of it." One of the most interesting traits of Fénélon's missionary activity is, that he advocates so strongly the distribution of But if Fénélon thought thus, why was the Scriptures amongst the laity. Did he he so careful that the Bible should be act thus because he was convinced that given so profusely, even to those whom the thing was good in itself, or because he accuses the most of being unteachable it was a means of calming for a time the enemies, and by no means desirous of agitated spirits of the newly converted, finding in the Scriptures the opinions of and of escaping the reproaches with the Church? How can we explain this which he was troubled, while he re- new contradiction? We may do so by served to himself the power of with- referring to what he says in his "Treatise drawing the New Testaments at a more on the Ministry of Pastors," namely, that favourable opportunity? The question in the early ages the Church, “to make forces itself upon even the most chari- its authority beloved," had conceded table reader of Fénélon's letters. He many things which it did not fully aphardly ever exhorts those to whom he prove; as, for example, the election of writes to the reading of the Bible, and, pastors or bishops by the assembly of the we might say, he rarely gives them per- faithful. When the people were suffimission to do so. It is known that in ciently established in the faith, and in this respect also he took part with the obedience to the Church, they put an Jesuits against the Jansenists. During end to these accommodations, and withthe literary dispute which was raised on drew their concessions. Fénélon acts this subject, Fénélon gave his opinion in according to these principles in the disa long letter to the Bishop of Arras. The putes raised by the book of Père Quesnel rules which he establishes are exactly and the Unigenitus constitution, which the same as those of the Council of anathematized the Jansenist opinions on the reading of the Scriptures by the laity. Many of the French ecclesiastics declared, with good reason, that in accepting this bull they violated the promise they had made to many of the Protestants, to facilitate their conversion, that they would permit them freely to read the Scriptures. Fénélon was far from partaking of these scruples; he acted according to the accepted sense of the famous bull, he submitted himself fully to an archiepiscopal mandate; that was the sole end of the zeal which he displayed for spreading the Scriptures amongst the newly converted who were committed to his pastoral care! HERZOG, Professor at Erlangen. Illustration of Scripture,—“ The Birds and Bakemeats.” WHEN the chief baker in the prison narrated his dream to Joseph, he said that he saw in his dream three baskets on his head, and in the uppermost basket there was all manner of bakemeats for Pharaoh; and that "the birds did eat the bakemeats out of the basket" on his head. Now that the birds should eat the bakemeats out of the basket, while on his head, has most probably appeared to us a statement that might be made in a dream, but which would be ventured on nowhere else. For no birds that we have any experience of would have the audacity to do such a thing, and therefore we have, perhaps, regarded it as a piece of mere imagination to be found only in a dream. But, however unlikely such an occurrence would be in this country, the experience of India shows, that there is nothing in it at all incredible, or even extraordinary; birds may be observed actually carrying off the viands from the very basket or tray on a man's head. It may be remarked, that in India, the houses of Europeans are usually situated in an enclosure surrounded by a wall, which is called the "the compound;" and very generally the cooking-house or kitchen is detached from the dwellinghouse, so that the different viands prepared for dinner and other meals have to be carried a short distance in the open air, which is generally done in a broad shallow basket on the head; and frequently without being covered up. As such a tray was being carried across "the compound" one day, a brahmin kite was seen to make a swoop at the basket, and carry off in its talons a roast fowl! The kite soon found the fowl, however, too hot for its taste, or more strictly perhaps, for its talons, and accordingly dropt it; but not with the slightest idea of making restitution, for before the unlucky fowl had reached the ground, the kite by a rapid stoop had caught it again, and finding it now somewhat cooled by its descent through the air, flew off with it; and this is by no means a singular or extraordinary incident. But in the dream of the chief baker not only is it said that birds ate the bakemeats out of the basket, but their doing so, according to the appalling interpretation of Joseph, was only an intimation, that within three days, birds should eat the chief baker's own flesh from off him; and of cases parallel to this statement, India presents only too many examples. In the East all birds of prey are peculiarly ravenous and daring, and nothing they can use as food is safe, even for a short time, if left exposed to their ravages. When Abram spread out the divided carcases as a sign of the ratification of God's covenant with him, he durst not leave them unwatched, but himself drove away the birds of the air that descended upon them; and so Rizpah is represented as driving away the fowls of the air from the bodies of her sons which she disconsolately watched. The Israelites had a particular horror of having the corpse left exposed to birds of prey; and accordingly it is denounced in the Law of Moses and elsewhere, as part of the curse that should light on the workers of iniquity, that "their dead bodies should be meat to the fowls of the air;" and because of the special wickedness of Jeroboam, it was specially denounced against his posterity, "Him that dieth in the field, shall the fowls of the air eat." Now in India the birds of prey are quite as numerous and active in their ravages, as in Palestine; and they feed not only on offal and carrion, but to a great extent also on the human corpses that are found in the Ganges and other rivers; and the vultures, especially in the neighbour-the testimony of Dr. Duff, the Indian hood of Juggernaut, often display a shocking tameness, owing to the undisturbed liberty afforded them of feasting on the bodies of pilgrims that have died on the road. In addition to vultures and kites which prey on human corpses, there is in India a huge, ugly bird of the crane species, from four to five feet high, called an adjutant, which is most useful in the capacity of town scavenger; and a lady who drew a sketch of the scene on the spot, mentions a singular instance of the sagacity displayed by one of those birds in seizing its human prey. says that the bird, having eyed it, pounced on the body of a female in the midst of the Hooghly river, fixing its talons in the flesh; and in order to get it to the bank, it spread out its huge wings to the wind, and so sailed towards the shore with its prize. We have thus by these Indian facts fully realized to us the words of Joseph to the chief baker, that "birds shall eat thy flesh from off thee;" and if a still more exact illustration of the words is desired, it is supplied by She missionary, who states that friendless wretches, that have come to the banks of the sacred Ganges to die, may sometimes be seen with the flesh actually half-eaten off their backs by birds of prey, and yet still able to creep along. The foregoing Scripture illustrations are extracted from a very interesting series of "Indian Illustrations of Scripture," delivered in the form of a lecture by the Rev. W. M. Robertson, B.A., of London. The oral illustrations are accompanied by a series of dissolving views. UNSUCCESSFUL TOIL. Extracts. In any case the Lord will provide. Had even that throw of the net (after the long night's fishing on the sea of Gennesareth) brought nothing from the lake, the Master had a meal prepared already on land. So take His bidding. Ply your calling, and, if that calling fails to yield you food and raiment, you may fearlessly cast yourself on that allembracing care and kindness by which the ravens are fed and the lilies are clothed. "Set thou thy trust upon the Lord, And be thou doing good; And so thou in the land shalt dwell, And verily have food." In real truth, however, it can never be said of a disciple, in discharge of his duty, that he toils all night and takes nothing. He may not catch precisely that for which, in the first instance, he sweeps or dredges; but the net never and welter with fishes, it is full of good comes up empty. If it does not popple lessons and instructive experiences; and bad one when Christ comes in the mornno disciple will say that the night was a ing. "Oh, gainful loss! oh, wondrous grace!" as good Mr. Williams of Kidderminster wrote in his diary, after heavy losses in trade. "Oh, how wise and gracious is my heavenly Father! How sweetly doth He overrule afflictive providences to my great advantage and comfort. Surely I find my heart improving and growing hereby in submission to the will of God, delight in God, and in duty. For long I have been trying to say, Thou art my portion, O Lord.' At last, finding that nothing less would satisfy the desires of my soul, and believing that the Lord Himself had stirred up these desires, and therefore, if I were willing |—when you think who provided the reHe could not be unwilling, I ventured, past, and who presides at the board, it though with a trembling heart, to say, will taste like angels' food. The words 'Thou art my portion, O Lord.' There- of Jesus, "Come and dine," will make it upon joy like a tide came rolling in, and a miraculous feast, and you will not got possession of my soul; and I was grudge the hours of toil which end, as quickly able, in the confidence of faith, you wish the toilsome night of life to repeat the aspiration. My mind is itself to end, in the society of the Saviour, full of it, and it puts life and vigour into and where, instead of the question often every grace." so trying, so tantalizing, "Children, have ye any meat?" you shall find yourself sitting down at the table which He Himself has prepared. Should there be present any one suffering from worldly reverses, we venture to say, that there is nothing like confronting the full reality. There are many worse ills than poverty, and not many greater evils than an unblessed prosperity. Let us not be the victims of senseless fashion, or of our own anxiety to keep up appearances; but, meekly bowing to a stronger and a wiser will, we shall soon learn how to be abased, as well as how to abound. And, what is not a little remarkable, if in the man there is anything really good or great, he will come out grander; he will show more sublimely in the valley of humiliation than on the pinnacle of mere earthly promotion. His heart is likely to be more tender, his walk with God closer, his conscience more scrupulous, his sympathies more lively, his discharge of duty more thorough. Nay, paradoxical as it may seem, with lessened means he may actually do greater good, and with a store sadly diminished, he may have actually less of carefulness or fear for the future. And like one who has lived all his life in a garden, but who is amazed to find what beautiful flowers bespangle the open heath or the thoroughfare, latent endearments and neglected sources of enjoyment may acquire such new beauty and sweetness, that he shall marvel that he prized them so little before, and paid so dear for very paltry substitutes. Above all, religion may grow more genuine, prayer more earnest, the soul's interests more urgent, the Saviour more precious; and, although the toil may be severe, and the fare may be homely—though, after hard labour in the open air and on the hungry lake, you come home to find nothing but "a fire of coals, and fish laid thereon and bread" More especially does this miracle carry a message to the "fishers of men." "Full many a dreary anxious hour We watch our nets alone, "At morn we look, and nought is there- The sickening heart can stay?". But be not discouraged, thou faithful preacher-thou patient, persevering missionary. The coyest fish may be caught at last,† and the net which has been let down a hundred times in vain, may at last surround a multitude. Even at this moment, when you are ready to abandon the work in despair, He who has all the time been a witness of your toil may be sending to the right side of the ship a * Keble. +"An old man in Walton, whom Mr. Thornton had in vain urged to come to church, was taken ill and confined to his bed. Mr. Thornton went to the cottage and asked to see him. The old man, hearing his voice below, answered in no very courteous tone, "I don't want you here; you may go away.' The following day the curate was again at the foot of the stairs. Well, my friend, may I come up to-day, and sit beside you?' Again he received the same reply, 'I don't want you here.' Twenty-one days successively Mr. Thornton paid his visit to the cottage, and on the twenty-second his perseverance was rewarded. He was permitted to enter the room of the aged sufferer, to read the Bible, and pray by his bedside. The poor man recovered, and became one of the most regular attendants at the house of God."-Rev. W. R. Freemantle's "Memoirs of Rev. Spencer Thornton." Second Edition, p. 84. shoal unseen by you, but on whom He keeps His eye,-a people at last made "willing in the day of His power," and at whose accession your mouth will be filled with laughter, and your tongue with melody. SPIRIT OF CONTEMPLATION. To JOHN's spirit of contemplation, at once lofty and loving, is somewhat alien from our western mind. With our cold temperament and scholastic turn, we are fond of definitions, we like to argue, we are not given to long affectionate pondering of some one engaging theme. muse and meditate is not so much our way, as clever work and quick conclusions. Akin to this, we are not rich in feeling. We are judicious; we are sensible. We pride ourselves on being practical; but there is "no nonsense" in us-no idealism, no self-devotement, no fervour. We parade our logic; but to love we are ashamed. Nevertheless, in every age there tower up amongst us exceptional and noble natures, like Tabor from the plain of Jezreel, leaving the flat corn-fields far below, and with transfigurations on their summit; natures like that mountain, a part which, dwelling alone, are much in heaven-on whose elevations the last sunset lingers, and from whose sequestered slopes it seems as if the bow of promise loved to spring; men like those Teutonic mystics of the Middle Age, whom Kempis represents in his "Imitation of Christ;" men like Howe and Leighton amongst ourselves Howe, with a spiritual optimism, sustained on the equal wings of far-ranging intellect and enraptured devotion;Leighton perpetually declaring, "There is a noble Guest within us; let all our business be to entertain Him honourably, and to live in celestial love within;" and devotees in France, like Fénélon and Madame Guion, of whom the latter has expressed so well the master-thought of this peculiar piety. "All scenes alike engaging prove To souls impressed with sacred love; Of the two types of piety, the active and the contemplative, Peter and John may be taken as patterns; and, as both conformations exist in society, it is a cause of rejoicing that there is room for both in the Church of Christ. The side of John is that on which few of us are likely to exceed. We are more ready to work than worship-more anxious to hear some new thing than to realize the all-important things with which we are already familiar. In the dust of our own bustle we veil the heaven, and we run so fast we cannot read. It is God's goodness, therefore, that He gives us leisure; He gives us days when it is impiety not to pause and ponder-birthdays, new year's days, sacramental seasons, Sabbaths. And, if need be, He will find for us a Patmos-service in a family where there is no religion, a sick room, a dwelling isolated and darkened by some mournful dispensation, where we shall be very thankful if we hear a voice behind us, "I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last"--where it will be a profitable seclusion, a blessed banishment, if we are led to a more intimate communion with that Saviour who, oft forgotten, is never far away.-These extracts are from A Morning Beside the Lake of Galilee. By JAMES HAMILTON, D.D. Pages for the Little Ones. MARY JANE AND BERTIE. "Wednesday morning. Not an emblem to-day, but a story from the New Testament, is it not, Miss Minton ?" "Yes; and the story for to-day you will find in the seventh chapter of Acts, We beginning at the fifty-fourth verse. will read to the end of the chapter. Now |