blance to the lines of longitude and latitude crossing on a map, is made to shew that it is for the blessing of all,— north south, east and west. It is the figure of a man swimming;—so it floats the sinking Christian over his Jordan. It is the mast and yard of a ship; and here comes the same application. It is the shape of the ancient standard;—and becomes a sign of victory. It is the shape of a soaring bird;-so it lifts us to heaven. Many centuries elapsed before any figure of the Saviour was wrought upon it. Other symbols of Christ were the lamb, from the New Testament language; the shepherd, which was wrought in the second century on a communion cup;—the fish, because its Greek name is made from the initial letters of the Greek words signifying, "Jesus Christ, the Saviour, Son of God." In the Armenian convent near Venice is the representation of a pelican, who feeds her young with her own blood, a beautiful emblem of the Saviour's love. The dove descending was the most frequent representation of the Holy Spirit. Tongues of fire are used to renew the memory of Pentecost. White robes at Whit-Sunday, the anniversary of Pentecost, gave the name to that day; they were worn as emblems of purity by those about to be received into the Christian faith. An anchor denotes faith,- -as in Hebrews vi. 19. The cock is Christian vigilance. The stag is the hart who thirsteth for the water brooks (Ps. xlii.). The horse is the emblem of haste for salvation. The lion is Christian strength; the hare, the Christian fleeing from his enemies. The phoenix indicated the resurrection. On Easter morning, the favourite symbol is an egg. For to the eye it is cold and dead as a stone ;-so was the sealed tomb;-but in God's time life will break it open, and the living bird comes forth from its stony sepulchre! Beautiful porcelain eggs, with paintings illustrating the life or death of Christ, are Easter gifts in Catholic countries. The passion flower has been so named from very early times. Its tendrils are the cords which bound Jesus. Its deeply-cut leaves shew his open palm. Its fine petals tinged with crimson are the bloody crown of thorns; and the hammer and nails may be found in its pistils and stamens. The palm has been always a Christian tree, since the day of hosannas. It is the emblem of conquest and of immortality. The glory or nimbus around sacred heads in paintings was first used in the seventh century. It is now going out of use with the best masters. It is a rim of light, sometimes with rays shooting from it, supported by a cross, radiating from the head which bears it. The Christian arts of design achieved their highest triumphs in the very age when the invention of printing first opened another means of addressing the truths of religion to the people. Text-ISAIAH liii. 6—8. THE JEWISH SECTS ALLUDED TO IN THE GOSPELS. THE PHARISEES. THE Pharisees were a sect among the Jews, that had subsisted at least above a century and half before the appearance of our Saviour. They affected the most profound regard for the law of God and the sacred books; but for the interpretation of them, and the manner in which they were to be obeyed, they depended chiefly upon traditional accounts. These traditions encumbered religion with a thousand frivolous observances, which drew off the mind from the more important matters of the law, and made men look upon themselves as holy and acceptable to God, not so much from their moral conduct and observance of divine institutions, as from their conformity to certain modes and punctilios of mere human invention, introduced among them under pretence of being the traditions of the elders. Hence their more than ordinary strictness in wearing the phylactery, and singularity in enlarging the borders or fringes of their garments. The phylacteries were little scrolls of parchment bound to their foreheads and wrists, on which were written texts of Scripture taken from Exodus xiii. 9, 16, and Deut. vi. 8, xi. 18. Hence their superstition about the Sabbath, as if it had been unlawful on that day to walk in the fields, or to pluck the ears of corn, or to cure the sick, or to aid one's neighbour. Hence, too, their peculiar zeal and pretence to purity, in the demureness with which they fasted, the exactness with which they paid their tithes, the ostentation with which they prayed, performing that duty not only aloud, but in the most public turnings of the streets; the ardour with which they encompassed sea and land to make proselytes or converts to their sect; their frequent washing, not only of themselves, but of their vestments and utensils, and their holding at a distance, or separating themselves not only from Pagans, but from all such Jews as complied not with their peculiarities. To this last circumstance they seem to have owed the name of their sect; the word Pharisee being derived from a verb in the Hebrew which signifies to divide or separate. This sect, however, not only held the soul to be immortal, but had some slight notions of a resurrection, believing that on some occasions the soul might again reanimate the body: whence their conjecture about Christ upon his first appearance, that he was either John the Baptist, or Elias, or one of the old prophets; and hence, too, notwithstanding the violence with which they had opposed the personal ministry of Jesus, that aptitude they displayed in after times, beyond some of the other Jewish sects, to believe in his revelation. THE SCRIBES. The word Scribes, as that denomination occurs in the New Testament, appears to be the title not of any particular sect distinguished from all others as to their modes of practice or belief; but a general term, applicable to all those, of whatever sect, who made the Law of Moses and the prophetical and sacred books their peculiar study, so as to become capable of commenting upon them, and thence of publicly instructing the people. This office seems, however, to have been confined to the descendants of Levi, who being very numerous, and not at all times engaged in the immediate service of the temple, had leisure and opportunity enough to qualify themselves for this duty, being unembarrassed with secular employments, and liberally provided for among all the other tribes. It appears, indeed, from the frequent mention that is made in the Gospels of the Scribes and Pharisees in conjunction, that the greatest number of Jewish teachers or Doctors of the Law,-for these are expressions equivalent to Scribe,-were at that time of the Pharisaical sect. In the Old Testament, we meet with the term Scribe in a secular sense, as denoting sometimes a secretary of state, sometimes a principal clerk in a court of judicature, and sometimes a commissary in the army; and although it is probable that a duly qualified man belonging to any of the other tribes, might be admitted into any of these employments, yet the superior opportunity that the descendants of Levi enjoyed for all sorts of literary improvements, renders it likely that they were generally preferred, especially in ancient times, even to these departments. THE SADDUCEES. The most ancient sect among the Jews was that of the Sadducees. This name may either be derived from the Hebrew word Sedec, which signifies justice, or from a certain teacher among the Jews called Sadoc. The former seems to have been the origin of the appellation, according to the account of the Sadducees themselves; the latter, according to the account given of them by the Pharisees. If we admit the former derivation, it assigns no fixed date of the antiquity of this sect; if the latter, it ascertains their rise to have been but a few years before that of the Pharisees. But be this as it may, the Sadducees seem to have been originally strict adherents to the Mosaic institution, and to the canonical books, only interpreting them in the most literal sense, and rejecting all other explications. The superior estimation in which they held the Pentateuch, to all other compositions in the sacred collection, gave rise in all probability to the report of their adversaries, that they entirely rejected the authority of the rest: and the doubts they entertained about a future state, seem to have at first given a handle to the Pharisees of rendering them suspected of irreligion, which in all probability was afterwards confirmed by men of loose principles sheltering themselves under their name. This, however, is certain, that at the time of our Saviour this sect is reputed to have held doctrines that were thoroughly impious. They denied the resurrection of the dead and all spiritual existence of the souls of the departed. It was their opinion, that there is no spiritual being but God only; that as to man, this world is his all; that at his death, body and soul die together, never to live more; and that therefore there is no future reward nor punishment. They acknowledged that God made this world by his power, and governs it by his providence; and, for the carrying on this government, hath ordained rewards and punishments; but that they do not extend beyond this world. In a word, they seem to have been Epicureans in all respects, excepting only that they allowed that God made the world by his power, and governs it by his providence. At the same time that they held these loose notions, they are said to have had a bigoted attachment to the law of Moses; and whether it proceeded from this, or their considering our Saviour as a seditious person, they soon joined with the Pharisees in bringing Christ and his disciples to death; for Caiaphas, who was of this sect, and who was high-priest of the Jews at that time, was he who condemned Jesus to be crucified; and Ananus the younger, another of this sect, put to death St. James, the brother of our Lord. Text-ST. MATTHEW Xxiii. 1—8. ONE BY ONE. ONE by one the sands are flowing, One by one thy duties wait thee; Let thy whole strength go to each; Let no future dreams elate thee: Learn thou first what those can teach. One by one (bright gifts from Heaven) One by one thy griefs shall meet thee- One will fade as others greet thee, |