In the multitude of slaves who flocked to the Church is to be found the source of that Humility which has lowered the standard of modern virtue. Whatever might be the cause, a society which sanctified a total absence of self-respect could not produce truly virtuous men, except by contradicting its professed principles. How low must have been the tone of moral feeling in a society where Church penance was established !-where men atoned for their faults by lying prostrate at the threshold of their Churches, endeavouring to be trampled upon by the congregation; where these penitents were divided into classes, the very names of which raise a blush for human nature !* Such a body must have abounded in the most degraded wretches, while the spirit of that portion who accepted such acts of humiliation must, like that of all masters of slaves, have been nourished with a selfish, mad pride, in proportion as they had lost all respect for their own species.†

But what is Humility? Is it to proclaim every evil of oneself, knowing that what we assert is not

had attached themselves, fell victims to a miserable enthusiasm. But, after an attentive consideration given to this subject, I am convinced that the contrivances by which Martyrs were procured by the pious of those days, were infinitely worse than those employed among us to obtain converts from the Jews, and the class of the latter, in general, was superior to that of the former.

*The whining, the kneeling, the tumbling-from the manner in which these degraded creatures were ordered to implore the pardon of the congregation.

The pride and insolence of the Clergy, their claim to be respected above the kings of the earth, are well known. I wish I could give a picture of the character of Martin of Tours.

true? Is it to deny or conceal Thy own gifts, the blessings we have received from Thee, my God? Could such falsehood, such ingratitude, be acceptable to Thee? I know how highly it behoves Man to be modest; how fit it is for frail and limited creatures to reject the suggestions of vanity; to compare ourselves, not with those that are evidently inferior, but with those who are undeniably above us. But to create in us a habit of distrust and timidity, is to deprive us of that confidence which is the foundation of all high enterprise. To degrade ourselves before our fellow-creatures, as an exercise of humility, is to encourage their vanity or their insolence. To address Thee as an Eastern slave would address the Despot he fears, would be a grievous insult, were it not done in perfect ignorance!

XI.

Prayer.

But I am led to examine, in Thy presence, an obscure subject, where much superstition prevails.— Thou knowest, my God, that the only source of consolation I have had in this last and most trying period of my life, is that state of mind which arises from the internal conviction that Thou dwellest within me, that Thou hast placed thy oracle in my conscience. When in the midst of torturing pain, and that cruel sense of forlornness which total want of domestic friends produces, I obtain a glimpse of that internal conviction that Thou art with me, the tempest which violent pain raises in my soul is suddenly stilled. It is long, however, since I renounced the (to me) superstitious practice of falling upon my knees, and formally addressing to Thee either praises or petitions. I am, however, almost without interruption in a praying state, if, as I conceive, prayer is a desire of conformity with Thy will. To ask for individual events shows a great ignorance of Thee, and of the universe in which Thou manifestest thyself to us. The order of thy universe is immutable: nothing can be but what is to be, nothing is possible but what will happen. All other suppositions are illusory-the work of our imagination, where all superstitions have their source.

Prayer is full of moral benefit, when used as a

* εὐχή.

means to remind us of Thy omnipresence and Thy paternal care. It was certainly not without Thee that the last great preacher of thy Unity, Mahomet, obliged his followers to short and frequent prayer. Much superstition was soon connected with that practice, burdensome in itself from the external forms prescribed. But the proclamation of the returning duty, made by a human voice from an elevated place, is an external act, as simple as it is sublime.* My mind suggests, that when thy Providence shall have delivered the Christians from the superstition, pride, and intolerance which prevent their moral progress, some practice similar to that of their too much despised religious rivals will be employed, instead of the injudicious methods now followed with the object of raising and maintaining devotion. A social lifting up our hearts to Thee is an act full of beauty-the privilege of rational creatures. But the absurd and

In Spain, where the Mahometans were masters for many centuries, the Muezzin's call to prayer seems to have made such a favourable impression on the Christians, that the custom is kept up to this day, though in a very imperfect manner. A large bell is a miserable substitute for a verbal call to remember God, and worship him. At break of day, at about ten in the morning, at noon, at three in the afternoon, and at sunset, a bell is tolled for prayer, which, in the spirit of Rcmanism, is addressed to the Virgin Mary.-How superior, in various respects, is Islamism, to superstitious Christianity! It may shock many, but I must express my expectation, that both the corrupt Church. Christianity and Islamism itself will disappear in the course of ages, and that the two religions will return to their primitive source-the pure patriarchal and primitive view, the true Christian view, of God and Man. I would recommend to all sincerely religious and thinking men to read attentively Histoire des Institutions de Moïse et du peuple Hébreu, par M. Salvador. The same author's work, Jesus-Christ et sa Doctrine, abounds in neglected truths and profound reflections.

mutually contradictory creeds, now considered as the essence of Christianity, interfere with that glorious Unity which thy own Unity sincerely believed will, I hope, give to thy worshippers. One class of religious men have already made an important step towards this noble end-that class, I mean, which takes its denomination from Thy essential attributethy Unity. They are still much impeded in their progress by inherited prejudices, especially by that worship of the Bible which has many of the effects of idolatry. As to myself, Thou knowest that I sincerely value a name which constantly reminds me that Thou art one and there is none like Thee. Are not these my desires, Prayers? is not the whole of this artless writing, a Prayer? my whole existence, with its helplessness, its misery, its anguish, its aspiration, is a Prayer-and may my last breath be a Prayer!*

* The mixture of rationalist with sacerdotal views which the New Testament exhibits is a singular phenomenon. The former, of course, could never be popular. From the earliest times, such enlightened maxims as those which we find upon Prayer are passed over without any observation, except such as tend to obscure and invalidate them by interpretation. What Divine will dwell upon the words, (Matt. vi. 7, 8,) "When ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do....Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him”? And in spite of this passage there is still a Litany !!-The superstition with which the Lord's Prayer is treated has not led to the imitation of its soberness and brevity. That it is a Rabbinical composition is well known; but that origin does not diminish the merit it possesses.