chant called Aubert Franc, who received me well, and procured me much useful information respecting my two pilgrimages, by which I profited. With the aid of his advice I took the road to Nazareth; and having crossed an extensive plain, came to the fountain, the water of which our Lord changed into wine at the marriage of Archétréclin; it is near a village where St. Peter is said to have been born.

"Nazareth is another large village, built between two mountains; but the place where the angel Gabriel came to announce to the Virgin Mary that she would be a mother, is in a pitiful state. The church that had been there built is entirely destroyed; and of the house wherein our Lady was when the angel appeared to her not the smallest remnant exists.

"From Nazareth I went to Mount Tabor, the place where the transfiguration of our Lord, and many other miracles, took effect. These pasturages attract the Arabs, who come thither with their beasts; and I was forced to engage four additional men as an escort, two of whom were Arabs. The ascent of the mountain is rugged, because there is no road; I performed it on the back of a mule, but it took me two hours. The summit is terminated by an almost circular plain of about two bow-shots in length, and one in width. It was formerly enclosed with walls, the ruins of which, and the ditches, are still visible; within the wall, and around it, were several churches, and one especially, where, although in ruins, full pardon for vice and sin is gained.

"We went to lodge at Samaria, because I wished to see the lake of Tiberias, where it is said St. Peter was accustomed to fish; and by so doing, some pardons may be gained, for it was the ember week of September. The Moucre left me to myself the whole day. Samaria is situated on the extremity of a mountain. We entered it at the close of the day, and left it at midnight to visit the lake. The Moucre had proposed this hour to evade the tribute exacted from all who go thither; but the night hindered me from seeing the surrounding

country.

"I went first to Joseph's Well, so called from his being cast into it by his brethren. There is a handsome mosque near it, which I entered with my Moucre, pretending to be a Saracen.

"Further on is a stone bridge over the Jordan, called Jacob's Bridge, on account of a house hard by, said to have been the residence of that patriarch. The river flows from a great lake situated at the foot of a mountain to the north-west, on which Namcardin has a very handsome castle."-(Pp. 122-128.)

From Damascus, to which he returns after his expedition to Nazareth, the first carver of Philip le Bon sets out with the caravan for Bursa. Before he begins upon his journey he expatiates with much satisfaction upon the admirable method of shoeing horses at Damascus,-a panegyric which certainly gives us the lowest ideas of that art in the reign of Philip le Bon; for it appears that, out of fifty days, his horse was lame for twenty-one, owing to this ingenious method of shoeing. As a mark of gratitude to the leader of the caravan, the esquire presents him with a pot of green ginger; and the caravan proceeds. Before it has advanced one day's journey, the esquire, however, deviates from the road, to pay his devoirs to a miraculous image of our lady of Serdenay, which always sweats—not ordinary sudorific matter—but an oil of great ecclesiastical efficacy. While travelling with the caravan he learned to sit cross-legged, got drunk privately, and was nearly murdered by some Saracens, who discovered that he had money. In some parts of Syria M. de la Brocquière met with an opinion which must have been extremely favourable to the spirit of proselytism in so very hot a country-an opinion that the infidels have a very bad smell, and that this is only to be removed by baptism. But as the baptism was according to the Greek ritual, by total immersion, Bertrandon seems to have a distant suspicion that this miracle may be resolved into the simple phenomenon of washing. He speaks well of the Turks, and represents them, to our surprise, as a very gay, laughing people. We thought Turkish gravity had been almost proverbial. The natives of the countries through which he passed pray (he says) for the conversion of Christians, and especially request that there may be never sent among them again such another terrible man as Godfrey of Boulogne. At Couhongue the caravan broke up; and here he quitted a Mameluke soldier who had kept him company during the whole of the journey, and to whose courage and fidelity Europe, Philip le Bon, and Mr. Johnes of Hafod, are principally indebted for the preservation of the first esquire-carver.

"I bade adieu," he says, "to my Mameluke. This good man, whose name was Mohammed, had done me innumerable services. He was very charitable, and never refused alms when asked in the name of God. It was through charity he had been so kind to me: and I must confess that, without his assistance, I could not have performed my journey without incurring the greatest danger; and that, had it not been for his kindness, I should often have been exposed to cold and hunger, and much embarrassed with my horse.

"On taking leave of him, I was desirous of showing my gratitude; but he would never accept of anything except a piece of our fine European cloth to cover his head, which seemed to please him much. He told me all the occasions that had come to his knowledge, on which, if it had not been for him, I should have run risks of being assassinated, and warned me to be very circumspect in my connections with the Saracens, for that there were among them some as wicked as the Franks. I write this to recal to my reader's memory that the person who, from his love to God, did me so many and essential kindnesses, was a man not of our faith."- (Pp. 196, 197.)

For the rest of the journey he travelled with the family of the leader of the caravan, without any occurrence more remarkable than those we have already noticed; arrived at Constantinople, and passed through Germany to the court of Philip le Bon. Here his narrative concludes; nor does the carver vouchsafe to inform us of the changes which time had made in the appetite of that great prince,-whether veal was now more pleasing to him than lamb,—if his favourite morsels were still in request,-if animal succulence were as grateful to him as before the departure of the carver, or if this semisanguineous partiality had given way to a taste for cinereous and torrefied meats. All these things the first esquire-carver might have said,-none of them he does say,nor does Mr. Johnes of Hafod supply, by any antiquarian conjectures of his own, the distressing silence of the original. Saving such omissions, there is something pleasant in the narrative of this arch-divider of fowls. He is an honest, brave, liberal man; and tells his singular story with great brevity and plainness. We are obliged to Mr. Johnes for the amusement he has afforded us; and we hope he will persevere in his gentleman-like, honourable, and useful occupations.

INGRAM ON METHODISM. (E. REVIEW, January, 1808.) Causes of the Increase of Methodism and Dissension. By ROBERT ACKLEM INGRAM, B.D. Hatchard.

THIS is the production of an honest man possessed of a fair share of understanding. He cries out lustily (and not before it is time) upon the increase of Methodism; proposes various remedies for the dininution of this evil; and speaks his opinions with a freedom which does him great credit and convinces us that he is a respectable man. The clergy are accused of not exerting themselves. What temporal motive, Mr. Ingram asks, have they for exertion? Would a curate who had served thirty years upon a living in the most exemplary manner secure to himself, by such a conduct, the slightest right or title to promotion in the Church? What can you expect of a whole profession in which there is no more connection between merit and reward than between merit and beauty, or merit and strength? This is the substance of what Mr. Ingram says upon the subject; and he speaks the truth. We regret, however, that this gentleman has thought fit to use against the dissenters the exploded clamour of Jacobinism; or that he deems it necessary to call into the aid of the Church the power of intolerant laws, in spite of the odious and impolitic test to which the dissenters are still subjected. We believe them to be very good subjects; and we have no doubt but that any further attempt upon their religious liberties, without reconciling them to the Church, would have a direct tendency to render them disaffected to the State.

Mr. Ingram (whose book, by the bye, is very dull and tedious) has fallen

into the common mistake of supposing his readers to be as well acquainted with his subject as he is himself; and has talked a great deal about dissenters, without giving us any distinct notions of the spirit which pervades these people-the objects they have in view-or the degree of talent which is to be found among them. To remedy this very capital defect, we shall endeavour to set before the eyes of the reader a complete section of the tabernacle; and to present him with a near view of those sectaries who are at present at work upon the destruction of the orthodox churches, and are destined hereafter, perhaps, to act as conspicuous a part in public affairs as the children of Sion did in the time of Cromwell.

The sources from which we shall derive our extracts are the Evangelical and Methodistical Magazines for the year 1807;-works which are said to be circulated to the amount of 18,000 or 20,000 each, every month; and which contain the sentiments of Arminian and Calvinistic Methodists, and of the evangelical clergymen of the Church of England. We shall use the general term of Methodism, to designate these three classes of fanatics, not troubling ourselves to point out the finer shades and nicer discriminations of lunacy, but treating them all as in one general conspiracy against common sense and rational orthodox Christianity.

In reading these very curious productions we seemed to be in a new world, and to have got among a set of beings of whose existence we had hardly before entertained the slightest conception. It has been our good fortune to be acquainted with many truly religious persons, both in the Presbyterian and Episcopalian churches; and from their manly, rational, and serious characters, our conceptions of true practical piety have been formed. To these confined habits, and to our want of proper introductions among the children of light and grace, any degree of surprise is to be attributed which may be excited by the publications before us; which, under opposite circumstances, would (we doubt not) have proved as great a source of instruction and delight to the Edinburgh reviewers as they are to the most melodious votaries of the tabernacle.

It is not wantonly, or with the most distant intention of trifling upon serious subjects, that we call the attention of the public to these sorts of publications. Their circulation is so enormous and so increasing,-they contain the opinions and display the habits of so many human beings,—that they cannot but be objects of curiosity and importance. The common and the middling classes of people are the purchasers; and the subject is religion,— though not that religion certainly which is established by law and encouraged by national provision. This may lead to unpleasant consequences, or it may not; but it carries with it a sort of aspect which ought to insure to it serious attention and reflection.

It is impossible to arrive at any knowledge of a religious sect by merely detailing the settled articles of their belief: it may be the fashion of such a sect to insist upon some articles very slightly; to bring forward others prominently; and to consider some portion of their formal creed as obsolete. As the knowledge of the jurisprudence of any country can never be obtained by the perusal of volumes which contain some statutes that are daily enforced and others that have been silently antiquated: in the same manner, the practice, the preaching, and the writing of sects are comments absolutely necessary to render the perusal of their creed of any degree of utility.

It is the practice, we believe, with the orthodox, both in the Scotch and the English churches, to insist very rarely, and very discreetly, upon the particular instances of the interference of Divine Providence. They do not contend that the world is governed only by general laws,-that a Superintending Mind

never interferes for particular purposes; but such purposes are represented to be of a nature very awful and sublime,-when a guilty people are to be destroyed,-when an oppressed nation is to be lifted up, and some remarkable change introduced into the order and arrangement of the world. With this kind of theology we can have no quarrel; we bow to its truth; we are satisfied with the moderation which it exhibits; and we have no doubt of the salutary effect which it produces upon the human heart. Let us now come to those special cases of the interference of Providence, as they are exhibited in the publications before us.

AN INTERFERENCE WITH Respect to the Rev. JAMES MOODY.

"Mr. James Moody was descended from pious ancestors, who resided at Paisley :-his heart was devoted to music, dancing, and theatrical amusements: of the latter he was so fond that he used to meet with some men of a similar caste to rehearse plays, and used to entertain a hope that he should make a figure upon the stage. To improve himself in music, he would rise very early, even in severely cold weather, and practise on the German flute: by his skill in music and singing, with his general powers of entertaining, he became a desirable companion: he would sometimes venture to profane the day of God, by turning it into a season of carnal pleasure; and would join in excursions on the water, to various parts of the vicinity of London. But the time was approaching when the Lord, who had designs of mercy for him, and for many others by his means, was about to stop him in his vain career of sin and folly. There were two professing servants in the house where he lived; one of these was a porter, who, in brushing his clothes, would say, 'Master James, this will never do-you must be otherwise employed-you must be a minister of the gospel.' This worthy man, earnestly wishing his conversion, put into his hand that excellent book which God hath so much owned, Alleine's Alarm to the Unconverted.

"About this time it pleased God to visit him with a disorder in his eyes, occasioned, as it was thought, by sitting up in the night to improve himself in drawing. The apprehension of losing his sight occasioned many serious reflections; his mind was impressed with the importance and necessity of seeking the salvation of his soul, and he was induced to attend the preaching of the gospel. The first sermon that he heard with a desire to profit was at Spafields chapel; a place which he had formerly frequented when it was a temple of vanity and dissipation. Strong convictions of sin fixed on his mind; and he continued to attend the preached word, particularly at Tottenham-court Chapel. Every sermon increased his sorrow and grief that he had not earlier sought the Lord. It was a considerable time before he found comfort from the gospel. He has stood in the free part of the chapel, hearing with such emotion that the tears have flowed from his eyes in torrents; and when he has returned home, he has continued a great part of the night on his knees, praying over what he had heard. "The change effected by the power of the Holy Spirit on his heart now became visible to all. Nor did he halt between two opinions, as some persons do; he became at once a decided character, and gave up for ever all his vain pursuits and amusements; devoting him. self with as much resolution and diligence to the service of God as he had formerly done to folly."-Ev. Mag. p. 194.

AN INTERFERENCE RESPECTING CARDS.

"A clergyman, not far distant from the spot on which these lines were written, was spending an evening-not in his closet, wrestling with his Divine Master for the communication of that grace which is so peculiarly necessary for the faithful discharge of the ministerial function,-not in his study, searching the sacred oracles of divine truth for materials wherewith to prepare for his public exercises and feed the flock under his care,-not in pastoral visits to that flock, to inquire into the state of their souls, and endeavour, by his pious and affectionate conversation, to conciliate their esteem and promote their edification,-but at the card table."-After stating that, when it was his turn to deal, he dropt down dead, "It is worthy of remark (says the writer) that within a very few years this was the third character in the neighbourhood which had been summoned from the card table to the bar of God."-Ev. Mag. p. 363.

Interference RESPECTING Swearing,-A Bee the Instrument.

"A young man is stung by a bee, upon which he buffets the bees with his hat, uttering at the same time the most dreadful oaths and imprecations. In the midst of his fury, one of these little combatants stung him upon the tip of that unruly member (his tongue), which was then employed in blaspheming his Maker. Thus can the Lord engage one of the meanest of his creatures in reproving the bold transgressor who dares to take his name in vain."-Es. Mag. p. 363.

INTERFERENCE WITH RESPECT TO DAVID WRIGHT, WHO WAS CURED OF ATHEISM AND SCROFULA BY ONE SERMON OF MR. COLES.

This case is too long to quote in the language and with the evidences of the

writers. The substance of it is what our title implies.-David Wright was a man with scrofulous legs and atheistical principles; being with difficulty persuaded to hear one sermon from Mr. Coles, he limped to the church in extreme pain, and arrived there after great exertions;-during church time he was entirely converted, walked home with the greatest ease, and never after experienced the slightest return of scrofula or infidelity.—Ev. Mag. p. 444.

The displeasURE OF PROVIDENCE IS EXPRessed at CapTAIN SCOTT'S GOING TO PREACH IN MR. ROMAINE'S CHAPEL.

The sign of this displeasure is a violent storm of thunder and lightning just as he came into town.-Ev. Mag. p. 537.

INTERFERENCE WITH RESPECT TO AN INNKEEPER, WHO WAS DESTROYED FOR HAVING APPOINTED A COCK-FIGHT AT THE VERY TIME THAT THE SERVICE WAS BEGINNING AT THE METHODIST CHAPEL.

'Never mind,' says the innkeeper, 'I'll get a greater congregation than the Methodist parson ;--we'll have a cock-fight. But what is man! how insignificant his designs, how impotent his strength, how ill-fated his plans, when opposed to that Being who is infinite in wisdom, boundless in power, terrible in judgment, and who frequently reverses and suddenly renders abortive the projects of the wicked! A few days after the avowal of his intention the innkeeper sickened, &c. &c. And then the narrator goes on to state that his corpse was carried by the meeting-house on the day, and exactly at the time, the deceased had fixed for the cock-fight.""-Meth. Mag. p. 126.

In page 167 Meth. Mag., a father, mother, three sons, and a sister, are destroyed by particular interposition.

In page 222 Meth. Mag., a dancing master is destroyed for irreligionanother person for swearing at a cock-fight-and a third for pretending to be deaf and dumb. These are called recent and authentic accounts of God's avenging providence.

So much for the miraculous interposition of Providence in cases where the Methodists are concerned: we shall now proceed to a few specimens of the energy of their religious feelings.

MR. ROBERTS'S FEELINGS IN THE MONTH OF MAY, 1793.

"But all this time my soul was stayed upon God: my desires increased, and my mind was kept in a sweet praying frame, a going out of myself, as it were, and taking shelter in Him. Every breath I drew ended in a prayer. I felt myself helpless as an infant, dependent upon God for all things. I was in a constant daily expectation of receiving all I wanted; and, on Friday, May 31st, under Mr. Rutherford's sermon, though entirely independent of it (for I could not give any account of what he had been preaching about), I was given to feel that God was waiting to be very gracious to me; the spirit of prayer and supplication was given me, and such an assurance that I was accepted in the Beloved as I cannot describe, but which I shall never forget."-Meth. Mag. p. 35.

MRS. ELIZABETH PRICE AND HER ATTENDants hear saCRED MUSIC ON a sudden. "A few nights before her death, while some neighbours and her husband were sitting up with her, a sudden and joyful sound of music was heard by all present, although some of them were carnal people; at which time she thought she saw her crucified Saviour before her, speaking these words with power to her soul, Thy sins are forgiven thee, and I love thee freely. After this she never doubted of her acceptance with God; and on Christmas day following was taken to celebrate the Redeemer's birth in the Paradise of God. MICHAEL COUSIN."-Meth. Mag. p. 137.

T. L., A SAILOR on board the Stag frigate, has a speciAL REVELATION FROM OUR SAVIOUR.

"October 26th, being the Lord's day, he had a remarkable manifestation of God's love to his soul. That blessed morning he was much grieved by hearing the wicked use profane language, when Jesus revealed himself to him, and impressed on his mind these words, Follow Me.' This was a precious day to him."-Meth. Mag. p. 140.

THE MANNER IN WHICH MR. THOMAS COOK WAS ACCUSTOMED TO ACCOST S. B. "Whenever he met me in the street, his salutation used to be, 'Have you free and lively intercourse with God to-day? Are you giving your whole heart to God? I have known him on such occasions speak in so pertinent a manner that I have been astonished at his know