9. JAMES, the son of Alpheus, is styled ،، the Lord's brother;" and he was commonly called "James the Less," and James the Just, on account of his extraordinary holiness." He is considered as having been the first bishop of the Christian church at Jerusalem. Even by many of the unbelieving Jews, James was venerated; on which account, Ananias, the Jewish high-priest, with the Scribes and Pharisees, called him, at the Passover, to stand upon the porch of the temple, and to satisfy the doubting minds of the people concerning the faith of Christ. James complied with this request: but being enraged that his doctrine was received by many, they threw him from the battlements; and while he was praying for his murderers, some of them beat him on the head with a fuller's club, of which, his skull being fractured, he died. Thus James was murdered by the mob, while there was no Roman governor at Jerusalem, A. D. 62.

10. JUDE, the apostle, or Lebbeus Thaddeus, was the writer of the Epistle which bears the name of Jude. At the commencement of his ministry, he preached in Judea, Samaria, Galilee, and Idumea; and afterwards in Arabia, Syria, Mesopotamia, and Persia; confirming his doctrine with miracles. We have no certain information of the termination of his ministry: though it is generally believed that the Magi put him to death in Persia, about A. D. 62.

11. SIMON ZELOTES, the Canaanite, the son of Cleophas, is said to have preached the (Gospel in Egypt, Greece, Libya, and Mauritania. Various accounts have been published concerning Simon the apostle some have affirmed that he fulfilled his apostolic ministry in Britain; and others that he was Bishop of Jerusalem until A. D. 107, where he was crucified at the advanced age of one hundred and twenty years.

12. JUDAS ISCARIOT was the guilty apostate and hypocritical betrayer of his holy Master, Jesus Christ. By an act of suicide, this wretched instrument of Satan "went to his own place!” ·

13. MATTHIAS was chosen by the disciples, and by lot, to fill the office of the traitor. He is believed to have been one of the seventy disciples. Leaving Judea, it is recorded that he laboured in Cappadocia, where he is believed to have died a martyr for Christ. Some Greek writers say that he was hanged on a cross.

14. PAUL, the apostle. The life, labours, and writings of this extraordinary minister of Christ might well require the pages of many volumes and many have been filled with the most judicious and edifying remarks and comments. Among these several works, Lord Lyttleton's "Observations on the Conversion and Apostleship of Paul," deserve especial notice. That nobleman's treatise is a work, of which it has been truly said, that "Infidelity has never been able to fabricate a specious answer."

But his conversion, ministry, and successes are so fully detained in the New Testament, and his doctrines and spirit are so richly contained in his fourteen inspired Epistles, that little is necessary to be added here, besides a few particulars concerning his martyrdom. Chrysostom informs us, that it being reported that a cup-bearer of the emperor, and his concubine Poppœa Sabina, embraced the Christian faith from the ministry of the apostle, Nero determined on Paul's immediate destruction. He was beheaded, as a Ronan citizen, at the Salvian Waters, and buried on the Estium Way, A. D. 66.

THE HARVEST MOON, AND THE HUNTER'S MOON.

HENRY. Father, I have wondered to see the moon appear so brilliant and beautiful for so many evenings lately; and yesterday I heard it called the harvestmoon, by a gentleman of Kent. What is meant by the harvest-moon?

Father. Wisdom is obtained principally by observation and inquiry : I am glad, therefore, that you observed what the Kentish gentleman said, and not less so by your proposing to me this question.

Henry. That gentleman said, the crops were exceed. ingly abundant in Kent, and the harvest-moon, with the favourable weather, was of the greatest advantage to the farmer, in getting in the corn. But I did not know why he called it the harvest-moon.

Father. As to your present inquiry, I would remark, that about the time of harvest, in this part of the earth, there is something peculiar in the rising of the moon; by which the industrious farmer derives great advantage from the prolonged light of the shining of that beautiful planet; on account of which it is called " the harvest-moon," in August; and that peculiarity partly continues in September, from which it is called " the hunter's-moon."

Henry. But what is the cause of the difference in the shining of the moon in those two months of the year?

Father. Fully to explain the cause would require some further acquaintance with astronomy than you at present possess: but as you become further informed on the wondrous works of God in the heavens, you will be better prepared, not only to understand the causes of many things of which you may now be ignorant, but also to adore and love the glorious and beneficent Author of all the grandeur of the heavens, and of all our personal blessings. Read these lines of poetry, which will partly answer your question, and tend to excite your curiosity in relation to the works of God.

Henry.

66 There is a time, well known to husbandmen,
In which the moon for many nights, in aid
Of their autumnal labours, cheers the dusk
With her full lustre, soon as Phoebus hides
Beneath th' horizon his propitious ray:
For as the angle of the line which bounds
The moon's career from the equator, flows
Greater or less, the orb of Cynthia shines
With less or more of difference in rise.
In Aries least this angle: thence the Moon
Rises with smallest variance of time,
When in this sign she dwells; and most protracts
Her sojourning in our enlighten'd skies.'''

Father. 1 hope you will remember those lines. Henry. Shall I beg you will endeavour to explain to ine more clearly the cause of the harvest-moon and the hunter's-moon?

Father. You know that the moon is a planet which attends our earth, at the distance of about 240,000 miles; and she makes her journey round the earth in a little more than twenty nine days twelve hours; so that there are nearly thirteen changes, or new moons, in the course of a year. You may have observed, that the moon rises later each day, by about three quarters of an hour, than on the day preceding: but in places situated in such a latitude as that in which we live, there is a remarkable difference about August and September, when at the season of full moon she rises, for several nights together, only about twenty minutes later on one day than on the day preceding. By thus succeeding the sun before the twilight is ended, the moon prolongs the light, to the great benefit of those who are engaged in gathering the fruits of the earth; and

Henry. Who first made observations upon the harvest-moon?

Father. We cannot tell who first observed this peculiar variation in the moon's appearance: but it is believed, that it was noticed by persons engaged in agriculture, at a much earlier period than it was observed by astronomers. Plain and pious husbandmen ascribed it to the special goodness of God, not doubting but that it had been ordered by him on purpose for their advantage.

Henry. And I should think they were right in so considering the harvest-moon.

Father. Most certainly they were: for all the arrangements of the blessed God in nature, and all his dispensations in providence, were ordained, and they are still directed, for his own glory in connection with the welfare of his creatures. Learned astronomers and other scientific men, frequently speak and write of the works of God, as if they were mere machinery, the wise arrangements of something which they call Nature: whilst a pious beholder of the wonders of God in the heavens, though he may understand but little of the laws of motion, and the causes of the several appearances in the sky, speaks far more rationally, and in a manner far more worthy of their blessed Author.

Henry. I have heard it said, that scientific and philosophical men are frequently irreligious and infi

dels.

Father. There is some truth in that report: but I have pleasure in knowing some philosophers and scientific men of the highest class, who are both believers and pious men. I would have you cherish the sentiments of the devout Psalmist, whenever look you upon the wonderful works of God. - Psal. viii, 1, 3, 4; xix, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.

SPIKENARD.-(Nardus Indica.)

THE root of this species is small and slender, putting forth a long small stalk. The spike (which gives the plant its name) is bristle-shaped, a finger's length in height, and odoriferous; the colour inclines to purple. This flower emits a rich and delightful fragrance, of which the whole surrounding medium partakes. A costly perfume was made from the blade or spike, which was esteemed as an article of luxury among the ancients, in whose feasts it frequently had a distinguished place.

Some very interesting observations on this plant are given by the Editor of Calmet's Dictionary, in some extracts from Dr. Gilbert Blane; and as they may be useful in confirming the opinion that the spikenard of Scripture was the same as that already described, we transcribe them for the information of the reader. In a letter dated Lucknow, 1786, his brother writes: "Travelling with the Nabob Vizier, on one of his hunting excursions, towards the Northern mountains, I was surprised one day, after crossing the river Rapty, about twenty miles from the foot of the hills, to perceive the air perfumed with an aromatic smell; and on asking the cause, I was told it proceeded from the roots of the grass, that were bruised or trodden out of the ground by the feet of the elephants and horses of the Nabob's retinue. The country was wild and uncultivated, and this was the common grass which covered the surface of it, growing in large tufts close to each other, very rank, and in general from three to four feet in height. As it was the winter season, there was none of it in flower. I collected a quantity of the roots to be dried, and carefully dug up some of it to be planted in my garden at Lucknow. There it throve exceedingly, and

in the rainy season it shot up spikes about six feet high The whole plant has a strong aromatic odour, but both the smell and the virtues reside principally in the husky roots, which in chewing have a bitter, warm, pungent taste, accompanied with some degree of that kind of glow in the mouth, which cardamoms occasion." The circumstance in the account above recited, adds Dr. G. Blane, of its being discovered in an unfrequented country from the odour it exhaled by being trodden upon by the elephants and horses, corresponds in a striking manner with an occurrence related by Arrian, in his history of the expedition of Alexander the Great into India. It is there mentioned, that during his march through the deserts of Gradosia, the air was perfumed with the spikenard, which was trodden under foot by the army, and that the Phoenicians who accompanied the expedition collected large quantities of it, as well as of myrrh, in order to carry them to their own country as articles of merchandize.

With regard to the virtues of this plant, it appears from a passage in Horace, that it was so valuable, that as much of it as could be contained in a small box of precious stone, was considered a sort of equivalent for a large vessel of wine, and a handsome quota for a guest to contribute at an entertainment, according to the custom of antiquity.

Though there seems to have been spikenard of an inferior quality growing in Syria (Nardus Syriaca), yet Galen tells us, that the term is misapplied when given to any other species but the "Nardus Indica."Scripture Garden Walk.

INDIAN MANNER OF WATERING GARDENS. AMONG the numerous evidences of the increasing liberality of sentiment of the present age, none can be more pleasing than the attention which most of our modern travellers bestow on the illustration of ancient scriptural customs.

The following extracts are from the pen of an exceedingly clever and well-educated lady, Mrs. Colonel Elwood.

"In India, seeds and plants are generally raised by laying them under water: small trenches are made round the roots, or the ground is laid out in small compartments, which are surrounded with mounds of earth, and it is the chief occupation of the gardener to fill these with water; he makes a small opening to admit the stream, and when the ground of one enclosure is completely filled and saturated, he then conducts it to another and another, either using a hoe for the purpose, or with his foot forming the aperture, and reminding one of Moses' description of a similar custom in Egypt, 1451 years before Christ, and which, such are the unchangeable manners of oriental countries, is still practised there, as well as in India, though more than three thousand years have elapsed since the lawgiver of the Jews flourished.

The land of Egypt from whence ye came out; where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs." Deut. ii, 10.— Narrative of an Overland Journey to India.

THE IMPORTANCE OF HAVING A PURSUIT. THE most important principle, perhaps, in life, is to have a pursuit - - a useful one if possible, and at all events an innocent one. The unripe fruit of the tree of knowledge is, I believe, always bitter or sour; and scepticism and discontent-sickness of the mind — are often the results of devouring it.- Sir Humphry Davy.

MUNGO PARK. PARK relates, that after traveling upon a hot and sultry day, through a desert country, he threw himself upon the ground, worn out with fatigue, and feeling himself as one lost and cast out from the world, and as if even Providence had forgotten him. As he lay, he turned to one side, and a little flower caught his eye, which was blooming with extreme beauty in the midst of so much barrenness. The sight brought comfort immediately to his mind, and he said to himself, "That God, who has planted this little flower in such a place, and provided for its sustenance, will not forget me."

What can I do for thee!

Omnipotent!-Eternal!-Infinite!
Is not the thought aspiring blasphemy,
Needing forgiveness to be granted it?
Who can conceive thy limitless domain?

Would thought exploring stretch her wings for flight
To yon far star upon the verge of sight,

(A sun immense, supplying worlds with light)
Thence must she stretch her wings and fly again!
And if, ten thousand suns pass'd by, she gaze
Amaz'd upon the measureless expanse,
She will perceive innumerous fresh rays-

New suns around whose bright founts planets dance, Receiving warmth and gladness from their beams;

All clad with fruits and flowers, along whose fields Man wanders, and where life its joyance yields Of soft sensation, and th' exquisite streams Which gush in real joys, or play in dreams. Thy space is infinite! yet boundless space Possesses not a vacancy -no place

But fill'd with wonders of thy mighty hand. And righteously thou sendest weal or woe;

For thon each deed, and word, and thought, dost know,

Or slightest movement, through thy vast command.
Then surely all my wants are known to thee,
Eternal Ruler of Infinity!

Oh! 'tis a thought of comfort, that the mind
Of high Archangel, which has left behind

At distance so extreme man's boasted powers,
Rises not nearer to thy topless throne,
Than doth the little insect, which, unknown,
Invisible to man, in smallest flowers
Finds a vast world; and there in reckless play
Sports its existence of a summer's day.
Then need I fear, that in this boundless mass
Of matter, I, an atom, shall be lost?
No! the Eternal Knowledge will not pass
Even the smallest; each a price has cost
Of agony to ransom it: and though,
Scatter'd by Death and Time, but dust it be,
It never can be lost; for surely He
Hath ever known it, and will ever know.

EDMESTON.

RUINS OF THE TEMPLE OF CARNAC AT
THEBES.

Ar sun-rise we set out to visit Carnac, the majestic ruins of which appeared in the distance, towering in their magnificence most sublimely above a grove of trees. After traversing a low tract of land we came upon the temple, and I doubt whether all the powers of description would be able to convey even a faint idea of the overwhelming grandeur that awaits the spectator. An avenue of sphynxes, which, though partly ruined, are still distinctly visible, reaches from Carnac to Luxor, two or three miles distant, In every direction

sweep fine colonnades, and innumerable courts and halls puzzle and bewilder the imagination. The walls are covered with a profusion of sculpture and painting, and we were pointed out in particular some very spirited battle scenes, as also the discoveries which had lately been made by excavations. We saw two noble obelisks standing, with a third prostrate on the ground, and a column of majestic proportions in solitary grandeur, all its companions having fallen. There were also the fragments of a colossal granite statue, the limbs of which were still very perfect, and another, more mutilated and broken. The roof of one of the sanctuaries, which is in excellent preservation, is painted blue, and covered with golden stars, which had a very fine effect; but what struck us most, and literally overwhelmed us with astonishment, was a truly majestic forest of gigantic columns, the greater part quite perfect, though one or two in a falling state were yet suspended in the air, as if the angel of destruction in passing over had stayed his destroying hand, touched with the magnificence of the scene, or

"As if the Spoiler had turned back with fear,
And turning left them to the elements."

From the top of one which we ascended, we had a panoramic view of the scene. In every direction, diverging like the radii of a circle from a coinmon centre, we beheld vast avenues of immense pillars, gigantic ruins, majestic fragments, and an infinity of gateways, which, from their numbers, might well have entitled Thebes to have been denominated "the City of a Hundred Gates."

Upon one of the colonnades had lately been discovered the name of Seconthis, and of his successor. According to Blair, Seconthis flourished 874 before Christ. He is by some thought to have been the Shishak of the Scriptures, who sacked Jerusalem 970 before Christ-though Sir Isaac Newton considers Shishak to have been the same with Sesostris. But whoever may have founded or inhabited Thebes, enough remains after the lapse of 2000 or 3000 years to show that at one period it was perhaps the grandest city in the world; and to prove that the natives of Africa, however we may now consider them, were at one time very superior to ourselves in some respects, for what modern building would survive the flight of so many centuries.

Amongst all Thebes, Carnac reigns pre-eminent, and such is its wonderful majesty and strength, that it seems as if none but Almighty power could have destroyed it, when for the sins of the nation "the Lord God destroyed the idols, and caused their images to cease," when "He poured his fury upon Sin, the strength of Egypt, and cut off the multitude of No," when" He set fire in Egypt, and No was rent in sunder." Oh the greatness and the littleness of man! which whilst he debased himself to worship" the likeness of things above, and in the earth beneath, and in the water under the earth," could at the same time have raised such grand, such magnificent structures to the honour of false gods. — Mrs. Elwood's Journey to India.

GENEROUS BOOK LENDER.

MICHAEL BEGON, who was born at Blois, in 1638, was possessed of a valuable library, which was free of public access. In most of his books was written,

Michaelis Begon et amicorum;" i. e. the property of Begon and his friends; and when he was once cautioned by his librarian against lending his books, for fear of losing them, he replied, "I would rather lose them than seem to distrust any honest man."

WHAT IS TIME?

I asked an aged man, a man of cares,
Wrinkled and curv'd, and white with hoary hairs;
"Time is the warp of life," he said, “Oh tell
The young, the fair, the gay, to weave it well!
I asked the ancient, venerable dead,
Sages who wrote, and warriors who bled;
From the cold grave a hollow murmur flow'd-
"Time sow'd the seed we reap in this abode!"
I ask'd a dying sinner, ere the tide
Of life had left his veins "Time!" he replied,
"I've lost it! Ah the treasure!" and he died.

I ask'd the golden Sun and silver spheres,
Those bright chronometers of days and years;
They answer'd, "Time is but a meteor glare,'
And bade us for Eternity prepare.

I ask'd the Seasons in their annual round,
Which beautify or desolate the ground;
And they replied (no oracle more wise)

""Tis Folly's blank, and Wisdom's highest prize!"
I ask'd a spirit lost; but oh! the shriek
That pierc'd my soul! I shudder while I speak!
It cried. "A particle! a speck! a mite
Of endless years, duration infinite!"
Of things inanimate, my dial I
Consulted, and it made me this reply;
"Time is the season fair of living well,
The path of glory, or the path of hell."
I ask'd my Bible, and methinks it said,
"Time is the present hour, the past is fled;
Live! live to day! to-morrow never yet
On any human being rose or set."

I ask'd old father Time himself at last,

But in a moment he flew swiftly past;

His chariot was the cloud, the viewless wind
His noiseless steeds, which left no trace behind.

I ask'd the mighty Angel, who shall stand

One foot on sea, and one on solid land;

ROBERT HALL ON EDUCATING THE POOR. "SOME have objected to the instruction of the lower classes, from an apprehension that it would lift them above their sphere, make them dissatisfied with their station in life, and, by impairing the habit of subordination, endanger the tranquillity of the state; an objection devoid, surely, of all force and validity. It is not easy to conceive in what manner instructing men in their duties can prompt them to neglect those duties; or how that enlargement of reason, which enables them to comprehend the true grounds of authority, and the obligations to obedience, should indispose them to obey. The admirable mechanism of society, together with that subordination of ranks which is essential to its subsistence, is surely not an elaborate imposture, which the exercise of reason will detect and expose. This objection implies a reflection on the social order equally impolitic, invidious, and unjust. Nothing, in reality, renders legitimate governments so insecure as extreme ignorance in the people. It is this which yields them an easy prey to seduction, makes them the victims of prejudice and false alarms, and so ferocious witha!, that their interference in a time of public commotion is more to be dreaded than the eruption of a volcano."

BOOKS OF STERLING MERIT. BAGSTER'S COMPREHENSIVE BIBLE. For elegance, beauty, accuracy, and cheapness, this is by far the best Bible for the study or the pulpit. Besides the im. mense mass of valuable introductory matter, on the Authenticity, Inspiration, History, Translations, Geography, Writers, &c. &c., of the several books of the Bible, the 4,000 notes, and 500,000 parallel passages, render it an inestimable treasure to the Christian stu dent, whether of a public or private character. By a simple Index, the Notes are made to illustrate 40,000 passages. "Not one Note is intended to be of a doctrinal or controversial nature; but to comprise illustrations of Jewish and Eastern Manners, Customs, Rites, and Ceremonies-Critical and Philological Observations-Chronological, Historical, and Classical Elucidations-Sacred Geography and Natural History, on which more light has been thrown than has ever met the eye of the English reader."

THE PILLAR OF DIVINE TRUTH immoveably fixed on the Foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, &c., shown by the Genuineness, Preservation, Authenticity, Inspiration, Facts. Doctrines, Miracles, Prophecies, and Precepts of the Word of God. The invaluable materials of this cheap volume are drawn solely from the Comprehensive Bible. We rejoice to be able to introduce so much instructive matter, in this form, to the notice of our young friends, who may not be able to procure the original work. The worthy publisher is entitled to the thanks of the Christian public for the "Pillar of Divine Truth," which will remain an imperishable monument to the honour of the lamented, learned, and all but martyred William Greenfield.

AMERICAN RELIGION AND Church Order, with an Appendix, containing "A Manual for Communicants," and a "Sermon on Revivals," by Dr. Cox of New York. 32mo. 72 pp.

Religion in America deserves to be better understood by British Christians; and this pamphlet, closely printed, for only eight pence, will give a clearer insight of its history, extent, and present character, than many large volumes. We recommend it in the most unqualified manner, as so much has been said on the subject of Revivals, and these so greatly desired in reference to religion in England.

MOURNING HABITS OF DIFFERENT NATIONS. IN Europe, black is generally used, because it represents darkness, to which death is like, as it is a privation of life.

China white, because they hope the dead are in heaven, the place of purity.

Egypt yellow, representing the decaying of trees and flowers, which become yellow as they die away.

Ethiopia brown, denoting the colour of the earth from whence we come and to which we return.

In some parts of Turkey blue, representing the sky, where they hope the dead are gone: but in other parts, purple or violet, because being a kind of mixture of black and blue, it represents, as it were, sorrow on the one side, hope on the other.

London: Printed and Published by C. WOOD AND SON, Poppin's Court, Fleet Street; to whom all Communications for the Editor (post paid) should be addressed.

Hawkers and Dealers Supplied on Wholesale Terms, in London, by STeill, Paternoster Row, and BERGER, Holywell Street, Strand; in Brighton, by SAUNDERS and SON; in Bristol, by WESTLEY and Co.; in Manchester, by ELLERBY; in Macclesfield, by WRIGHT; in Nottingham, by WRIGHT; in Portsea, by HORSEY, Jun.; in Worthing, by CARTER; and by all Booksellers and Newsmen in the United Kingdom; of whom may be had any of the previous Parts or Numbers.

THE BAPTIST MISSIONARY SOCIETY. THE Baptist Missionary Society has special claims upon the respect and support of every Christian denomination. It is almost the oldest existing institution of this divinely benevolent class; and when it is considered what has been accomplished by its agents in the translation of the Holy Scriptures into the languages of the East, every one, filled with astonishment, will exclaim, in the inspired words of Balaam, "What hath God wrought!

Mr. (now Dr.) Carey, originated the Baptist Missionary Society in 1792. This venerable man proposed to the Northamptonshire Association of Baptist ministers, at one of their meetings, "whether it were not practicable and obligatory to attempt the conversion of the Heathen?" After urging in a sermon before them, the two noble Attempt great things for God," and "Expect great things from God;" "he submitted a plan, which was accepted, and the Society was formed, the friends present making a collection for this magnificent object, amounting to 131. 2s. 6d. !

maxims

Hindostan was judged a proper sphere for their attempt, on account of its immense population, and the degrading superstitions which universally prevailed: but before any plan could be matured, they found a Baptist brother, Mr. John Thomas, a surgeon, lately returned from Calcutta to London, where he was laVOL. I.

(See p. 93.)

bouring to raise a fund for the purpose of establishing a mission to India! This pious and devoted man had preached to the natives in Bengal; and it deserves recording, that John Thomas had the singular honour of being the first Englishman, who made known the gospel of salvation to the benighted Hindoos.

Thomas was engaged as a missionary by the Baptist Society; and Carey also offered himself to go to India. They sailed in 1793, in a Danish East Indiaman; but without a provision for their support. Thomas proposed to maintain himself by his profession; and Carey by some occupation, till he could acquire the native language. Under difficulties extraordinary, with the assistance of Mr. Fountain, another missionary, they succeeded in translating the Scriptures into Bengalee. In 1799, they were reinforced by four more missionaries; but now they were refused permission to settle in the British territory. Carey and Fountain removed across the river Ganges, sixteen miles from Calcutta, to Serampore, a Danish settlement; where, to his everlasting honour, the governor protected and encouraged these men of God. Ever since, this has been the principal station of the Baptists in India. Kristno, the first Hindoo convert to Christianity, was baptized with Felix Carey, eldest son of the Doctor, in December, 1779, in the river Ganges, in the presence of a great concourse of people, Hindoos, Mohammedans, Europeans, and the Danish governor, who shed tears at the affecting

N