with fire, and laid the same down at Dr. | Anecdotes are of frequent occurrence. Ridley's feet. To whom Master Latimer They are a mirror in which the habits, spake in this manner-Be of good com- the sins, and the follies of the age are fort, Master Ridley, and play the man. reflected. "A careful reader of his serWe shall this day light such a candle, by mons will see traces of a teaching for God's grace, in England, as I trust shall which he was indebted to no human never be put out.' master. His deepest knowledge was that which stole upon him uncon And so the fire being given unto them. When Dr. Ridley saw the fire flaming up towards him, he cried with a wonderful sciously through the experience of loud voice, In manus tuas, Domine, com-life-the world. His words are like mendo spiritum meum; Domine, recipe spiritum meum;' and after repeated this latter part in English, Lord, Lord, receive my spirit.' Master Latimer crying as vehemently on the other side, O, Father of heaven, receive my soul;' who received the flame as it were embracing of it. After that he had stroked his face with bis hands, and as it were bathed them a little in the fire, he soon died (as it appeared) with very little pain or none. And thus much concerning the end of this old blessed servant of God, Master Latimer, for whose laborious travels, fruitful life, and constant death, the whole realm hath cause to give great thanks to Almighty God." Latimer's character shines out in his sermons. Simplicity, honesty, bravery, and earnestness, were some of the characteristics of this champion of the truth. Probably he did more to forward the principles of the Reformation than any other man. He was faithful to the truth in the presence of kings. Latimer was just the man for his day. He was a great stonebreaker when the high road of truth was being made. Plain, powerful, practical, he was not to be cajoled by flattery, nor juggled by trickery. In an age when the Gospel bells were muffled, he rang out the clear shrill sound of heavenly truth. The pungent strokes of his wit, and the glancing shafts of his honest sarcasm, were of eminent service in destroying Popery, and establishing the principles of the Reformation. It is said that he presented King Henry VIII. with a Testament with the passage marked, "Whoremongers and adulterers God will judge." Latimer has left numerous sermons behind. These are valuable as giving a picture of the age in which he lived. They do not display any great learning or depth of thought. They are distinguished for plainness and directness of style. Homeliness is the stamp they bear. The vices of the day are dealt with in an unsparing manner. the clear impression of a seal-the account and the result of observations, taken first hand, on the condition of the English men and women of the time, in all ranks and classes, from the palace to the prison. Latimer learnt the mental disorders of his age in the age itself; and the secret of that art no other man, however good, however wise, could have taught him. He was not an echo, but a voice; and he drew his thoughts fresh from the fountainfrom the facts of the era in which God had placed him."* A specimen or two from these antique sermons, and we say no more. On March 8th, 1549, Latimer preached before King Edward VI. In this sermon he gives us another glimpse of himself. He says: "But who is worthy to utter this doctrine before our most noble King? Not I, God knoweth, which am through age both weak in body and oblivious, unapt I am, not only because of painful study, but also for this short warning. Well, unto God will I make my moan who never failed me.” Speaking of preachers, he says:— "Therefore let the preacher teach, improve, amend, and instruct in righteousness, with the spiritual sword, fearing no man, though death should ensue." And again :- "Let the preacher, therefore, never fear to declare the message of God unto all men. And if the King will not hear them, then the preachers may admonish and charge them with their duties, and so leave them unto God, and pray for them." Here is the advice he gives to the youthful King in the choice of a wife. "Let him not prepare himself too many wives. Although we read here that the kings amongst the Jews had liberty to take more wives than one, we may not therefore attempt to walk inordinately, and to think that we may take also many wives. For Christ has forbidden this unto us Christians. And let us not impute sin * Froude's History of England, Vol. ii., p. 98. Latimer's "Sermon of the Plough." : unto the Jews because they had many wives; for they had a dispensation to do so. Christ limiteth unto us one wife only and it is a great thing for a man to rule one wife rightly and ordinately. For a woman is frail, and proclive unto all evils: a woman is a very weak vessel, and may soon deceive a man, and bring him into evil. Many examples we have in scripture. Adam had but one wife called Eve, and how soon had she brought him to consent unto evil, and to come to destruction? How did wicked Jezebel pervert King Ahab's heart from God and all godliness, and finally unto destruction? It is a very hard thing for a man to rule well one woman. Therefore let our King, what time his grace shall be so minded to take a wife, choose him one which is of God, that is which is of the household of faith. Yea, let all estates be no less circumspect in choosing her, taking great deliberation, and then they shall not need divorcements, and such mischiefs, to the evil example and slander of our realm. And that she be such one as the King can find in his heart to love, and lead his life in pure and chaste espousage, and then he shall be the more prone and ready to advance God's glory, and to punish and to extirp the great looseness seen in this realm." The last extract has a ring in it which must have told wonderfully on the audience to whom it was delivered. It is taken from the "Sermon of the Plough." 135 their mangers, and moiling in their gay manors and mansions, and so troubled with loitering in their lordships that they cannot attend it. They are otherwise occupied, some in the king's matters, some as ambassadors, some of the privy council, some to furnish the courts, some are lords of the parliament, some are presidents, and some comptrollers of mints." "And now I would ask the strange question; who is the most diligentest bishop and prelate in all England, that passeth all the rest in doing his office? I can tell, for I know him who it is; I know him well. But now I think I see you listening and hearkening that I should name him. There is one that passeth all the other, and is the most diligent prelate and preacher in all England. And will ye know who it is? I will tell you: it is the devil. He is the most diligent preacher of all; he is never out of his diocess; he is never from his cure; ye shall never find him unoccupied; he is ever in his parish; he keepeth residence at all times; ye shall never find him out of the way, call for him when you will he is ever at home; the diligentest preacher in all the realm; he is ever at his plough; no lording nor loitering can hinder him; he is ever apply. ing his business; ye shall never find him idle, I warrant you. And his office is to hinder religion, to maintain superstition, to set up idolatry, to teach all kind of popery. He is ready as can be wished for to set forth his plough; to devise as many means as can be to deface and obscure God's glory. Where the devil is resident, and hath his plough going, then away with books and up with candles; away with Bibles and up with beads; away with the light of the Gospel and up with the light of candles, yea at noondays. Where the devil is resident, that he may prevail, up with all superstition and idolatry; censing, painting of images, candles, palms, ashes, holy water, and new service of man's inventing; as though man could invent a better way to honour God with than God himself hath appointed. Down with Christ's cross, up with purgatory, pickpurse, up with him, the popish purgatory, I mean. Away with clothing the naked, the poor and impotent, up with decking of images, and gay garnishing of stocks and stones; up with man's traditions and his "But now for the fault of unpreaching laws, down with God's traditions and his prelates, methink I could guess what most holy word. Down with the old might be said for excusing them. They honour due to God, and up with the new are so troubled with lordly living, they be God's honour. Let all things be done in so placed in palaces, couched in courts, Latin. Let there be nothing but Latinruffling in their rents, dancing in their God's word may in nowise be translated dominions, burdened with ambassages, into English. O that our prelates would be pampering of their paunches, like a monk as diligent to sow the corn of good doctrine that maketh his jubilee; munching in as Satan is to sow cockle and darnel!" "And now I shall tell you who be the ploughers; for God's word is a seed to be sown in God's field, that is, the faithful congregation, and the preacher is the Sower. For preaching of the Gospel is one of God's plough-works, and the preacher is one of God's ploughmen. Ye may not be offended with my similitude, in that I compare preaching to the labour and work of ploughing and the preacher to a ploughman; ye may not be offended with this my similitude, for I have been slandered of some persons for such things. It has been said-O Latimer, nay as for him I will never believe him while I live, nor trust him, for he likened our blessed Lady to a saffron-bag;' where, indeed, I never used that similitude." Sabbath Schools. HOW HARRY BECAME A yet.' 'I give up my dog.' CHRISTIAN. 'More yet.' The Indian dropped his head He had nothing else to give. Are you sure that is all?' At last he said, 'I give myself to him.' 'Aye, that will do.'" HARRY had been for a long time and wept. "Harry," he said, "I understand that you have been thinking about religion lately." "Yes, I have," he replied. "I want to be a Christian-I want to give my heart to the Saviour, but I can't." "Why, what is your heart, that you can't give it to him?" He looked up half astonished at so odd a question, and after a moment's consideration he replied "I don't know. I can't tell what it is." Harry understood it. "Yourself is your heart, and your heart is your love, Harry. You can give it to the Saviour; ask him, and he will help you to do it. He is good, and has done much for you. He only asks you to love him. Why, Harry, how can you help loving him?" "I don't know how I can help it," he replied; "but it appears as if there was something in the way." "Whatever that is, you must take it out of the way; you must open the door of your heart and the Saviour will come in." "Now, Harry, will you give yourself Will you make up After a few minutes his teacher said, to the Saviour? Yes, I will," he answered. He went home and said to his widowed mother, "O mother! I have burst into tears. "Well then, Harry, get the dic-given myself to the Saviour," and tionary, and we will see what it is." So he got the dictionary, and found it to be the affections, the love. "Yes, the love; now put that word in place of heart, and do you mean to say that you cannot love the Saviour?" "Yes!" Harry said, looking as if he had got hold of a new idea; "but I want to love him. I have prayed that he would give me a new heart, (correcting himself,) a new love, but he does not give it to me." "Why, how can he, when your old heart is full of something else? There is no room for the new love. There is something for you to do first. You must make a place for the new love by repenting of your sins. You must give up everything for him. Did you ever hear of the Indian and the missionary? The Indian wanted to be a Christian. The missionary said he must give up all for Christ, and then he would be a Christian. Well,' said he, 'I give up my blanket.' 'No, that is not enough.' 'I give up my gun.' 'Not enough His mother was overjoyed, although she could not help mingling her tears with those of her only son, and only child, for whom she had prayed so long. REMARKABLE WORKS OF HUMAN LABOUR. NINEVEH was 14 miles long, 8 miles wide, and 46 miles round, with a wall 100 feet high, and thick enough for three chariots abreast. Babylon was 50 miles within the walls, which were 75 feet thick, and 100 high, with 100 brazen gates. The temple of Diana, at Ephesus, was 420 feet to the support of the roof. It was 100 years in building. The largest of the pyrainids was 481 feet in height, and 953 on the sides. The base covers 11 acres. The stones are about 60 feet in length, and the layers are 208. It employed 320,000 men in building. The labyrinth in Egypt contains 300 chambers and 12 halls. Thebes, in Egypt, pre Christian Work. sents ruins 27 miles round, and 100 gates. Carthage was 29 miles round. Athens was 25 miles round, and contained 350,000 citizens, and 400,000 slaves. The temple of Delphos was so rich in donations, that it was plundered of £10,000,000, and Nero carried away from it 200 statues. The walls of Rome were 13 miles round. TOIL ON, TEACHERS. TOIL on, teachers, toil on boldly, Labour on, and watch, and pray; Men may scoff and treat you coldly, Heed them not, go on your way; Jesus is a loving master, Cease not, then, his work to do; 137 Cleave to him still closer, faster, Christian Work. RAGGED SCHOOLS IN LONDON. THE London Ragged Schools were commenced in 1844; one of these was in the Devil's Acre, Westminster, another in St. Giles's parish, and another in Field Lane. We know one school where the boys are famous at patching and mending, and at making up for themselves coats, waistcoats, and trousers, originally worn by their seniors, an ingenious process in its way, reminding us how, in the Royal Navy, a seventy-four gun This last institution has now nu- ship is sometimes "cut down" to a merous agencies in connection with it; frigate. As for the girls, they are -an Infant School for children under taught to sew; they make up garments seven years of age is one of these, for themselves and others, besides where the poor mother going out mending their own clothes and also "a-charing" can leave her child with the family linen in the evening at thankfulness and confidence with the matron. Little creatures are thus daily sheltered, amused, and each "receives knowledge, like its food, in tuitively." Since the opening, at least seven hundred have been admitted. Benefit has come thus to parents themselves; one of the fathers himself acknowledging that his little girl "would give him no rest of a morning till he had said his prayers." These little children are taught to read, to write, to sing, and to sew. Upwards of fifty garments were made by them in one year. home. These girls, before entering the Industrial School, were altogether ignorant of sewing. The Industrial scholars in connection with the Ragged School Union, independent of those received, boarded, and provided for in refuges, now number 2,840. The "Ladies' Clothing Societies " were founded for the purpose of supplying the children of the day schools with clothing at one-third less than the cost of the material. The respective Ladies' Committees meet for the purpose of cutting out and preparing clothing, to be made up partly by the children of the day schools. At one school the children paid upwards of £44 for strong, well-made boots; and upwards of eight hundred garments were purchased within the year. But not the children only, but the women Industrial Classes are connected with attending the Mothers' Meetings (88 many of the London ragged schools. 'in number) in some cases avail them Besides the infant schools there are the day schools, the scholars of which are peculiarly tractable and attentive. Up till April, 1863, a total of 4,370 boys and girls had passed through the new day schools. L selves of the opportunity to obtain sound Christian philosophy demands clothing on the same liberal terms. kind treatment as conducive to the By small contributions weekly they grand end. Truth and love can tame gradually purchase clothes otherwise them. "I hope," said the president at not obtainable; occasionally, liberal a great meeting of the Sheffield ragged gifts of money are forwarded to pur- schools, "you will adopt the system of chase warm clothing for the mothers, giving the children periodical treats, and left-off clothing is dispensed to In the winter let them have a good the poor during the coldest season of tea, and in summer take them out into the year. the open fields, there to disport themselves for a few hours, and enjoy the beauties of God's creation." There are now forty clothing funds in connection with ragged schools. Besides these, it is worthy of notice, that for poor men who come for shelter to the Male Night Refuge at GERMAN BENEFICENT SOCIETY Field Lane, in repeated instances IN ST. PETERSBURG. clothing has been supplied, and situations also have been provided. On AMONGST the benevolent institutions one occasion the master succeeded, of the capital of Russia, the German after two days' search, in getting a Beneficent Society stands out most poor sailor a ship. He wanted some prominently. It was founded in the clothes to appear before the captain; year 1841, by two German physicians, these were supplied, and he soon trod Dr. Spices and Dr. Meyer, and the the deck, happy and thankful. Saxon Resident Minister, Baron SeeLast of all, summer treats are annu- bach. Its object is to assist poor Gerally provided for ragged school chil- mans in St. Petersburg, without disdren, and also for the inmates of the tinction of sect. Those who desire to London refuges. Some gentlemen are return home, have, where it is required, always found to open their grounds the means for the journey given them, every year, and to take upon them- and work is obtained for artisans who selves the whole expense of a large have no employment. The statutes body of children. Among these is Mr. were confirmed by the Emperor and Bodkin, the well-known assistant- Count Bennendorf. After the death judge, who, with his daughter, is most of the latter the Duke of Leuchtenberg zealous on behalf of ragged schools. undertook the patronage of the society. Many of the schools are marched to Many German princes so liberally supPrimrose Hill, Kennington, and Vic-ported this institution that its revenue toria Parks; others are conveyed away in one year amounted to more than in vans, to spend one whole day on the 68,000 roubles. In the year 1845, the green lawn, in the incense-breathing same society erected an alms-house for meadows, on the grassy slope, or amid old women, another for old men, and gipsy haunts in forest glades. As an orphan asylum. In Odessa there many as six thousand children have was formed an Auxiliary Society, and thus in one season, and by special a society of Sisters of Charity was funds raised for the purpose, been made formed in St. Petersburg in 1843: fourhappy exceedingly. Many, the ma- teen distinguished ladies under the jority, had never seen a green field. presidency of the Princess of Oldenburg Shut up in the murkiest and most un- united together to seek out deserted healthy alleys, lanes, courts, dens, they children for whom there was no place manifest unbounded delight when they of refuge, as also fallen females, and first feel themselves on the greensward, undertook to provide them with a home; and to look at them in their exuberant also to nurse sick children, and shelter gladness is at once cheering and sad-poor orphans. To carry out these obdening; for such excitement finds its jects, ladies, who felt the impulse to explanation in the remark of one girl mitigate and alleviate human misery, of twelve or thirteen years of age "I associated together, without reference never had a holiday before." The class to creed, to form a large society under whom it is sought to bless and save is the title of "Sisters of Mercy." A apeculiar class-precocious, cunning, building, surrounded by an extensive and mischievous to a degree; and so court, was constructed. It embraces |