rection, in his ministerial operations; in short, his steady observance of this simple principle, of obeying God rather than man, that brought him into the situation in which he now stood, and loaded him with those fetters which would have better become the hands of the shedder of innocent blood, the destroyer of human life, than those of the apostle of mercy, the preacher of the unsearchable riches of Christ, the publisher of the manifold grace of God.

is there is no transgression. Nor was this, by any means, a novel doctrine among the Jews. It was held by the Pharisees, by far the most numerous sect in Judea, and therefore might be supposed to be, in some measure, identified with the national creed, for it was impugned only by the Sadducees, the libertines, and infidels of the age. And when Paul was arraigned on the same ground, before the High Priest and the Council of the Sanhedrim, the Pharisees stood up in his defence, and expressed themselves, on the occasion, in a manner that evinced at once just thinking, and much good sense. "We find no evil against this man; but if a spirit or an angel hath spoken to him let us not fight against God."

the law.

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These allegations Paul not only denied, but defied any one, and every one, to establish against him, by any thing like clear and unexceptionable proof. "Certain Jews from Asia," said he, at his first answer, when he stood before Felix, certain Jews from Asia found me purified in the temple, neither with multitude, nor with tumult, who ought to have been here before thee, and object, if they had ought against me. Or else, let these same here say, if they have found any evil doing in me, whilst I stood before the council, except it be for this one voice that I cried, standing among them, Touching the resurrection of the dead, I am called in question by you this day." And while he answered for himself at the bar of Festus: "Neither against the law of the Jews," said he, "neither against the temple, nor yet against Cæsar, have I offended any thing at all.”

So that if we lay out of the charge all those vague and unfounded assertions which disgraced it, one only article of accusation will appear fairly to stand against the apostle,--that one touching the resurrection of the dead. To this he pled guilty at once, as to the fact itself, but certainly not as to the criminality supposed to be attached to it. For it was unquestionably brought forward and urged against him as a fact importing some kind of delinquency on his part, not easily defined. How the preaching of the resurrection of the dead came to form the ground of an accusation against him, or upon what principle it was construed into an offence against the State, or against Cæsar, or against the law of the Jews, is not, at first sight, very apparent. With the State, and with the government of Cæsar, it had certainly nothing to do. With the law of the Jews, taking that law to signify the whole fabric of their civil and ecclesiastical constitution, as those stood blended together, some connection, perhaps, may be more readily traced. Yet it may be observed, that there was no precise or particular law against preaching up the resurrection of the dead, and where no law

doctrine of the resurrection, viewed in connection with the resurrection of Christ and believers, that constituted the burden of the charge against Paul; and it was, in fact, however concealed the design, a thrust, aimed not only against the person of the apostle, but, through him, against the whole of that scheme of salvation, and system of religion, which was published by Jesus, and of which Paul was so successful a propagator and so able a defender. The Jews, it is well known, could never be reconciled to the idea of a humble and suffering Saviour. They expected indeed a Messiah, but it was a Messiah of a very different description,— one surrounded with the ensigns of majesty, and the glory of a princely establishment,-one who should restore the throne of David to its ancient splendour,-who should repair and reinvigorate the whole fabric of their civil and ecclesiastical policy,-and who, by the wisdom of his measures, and the power of his arm, should render them victorious and triumphant over all their enemies. The doctrine of a spiritual salvation, flowing from free grace through a Mediator, in itself so humbling to human pride and vanity, could never obtain a place in minds inflated with such lofty notions of worldly greatness and national grandeur.

The agitators in this affair with Paul, therefore, determined to oppose him to the utmost of their power, and resolved to crush, by every mean within their grasp, the system attempted to be ingrafted upon this grand and leading idea, characteristic of the dispensation we now enjoy; and they stupidly imagined that if they could but dispose of the apostle, that if they could but extinguish, by the hand of the executioner, the transcendent talent by which he soared so high above his compeers, and quench, in the silence of death, the tongue which spake with such power, and often with such persuasion, the germs of Christianity would be stifled in embryo, and the threatened danger to their fast decaying system of ritual laws would be arrested, and its feeble and lingering reign for some time yet prolonged.

Such, then, was the charge exhibited against Paul. Such were the views adopted by those who proposed and brought it forward; and such was their ultimate object in pressing on the matter with

many other Missionaries were sent from Iona to the different districts of Scotland, and that they planted churches and divided parishes, but as their labours were obscure, though useful, their names have perished amid the multitude of things that were.

During that period, when Columba, Kentigern, and their fellow-labourers were employed in spreading the knowledge of Christ throughout Scotland, the darkness of ignorance brooded over the southern part of the island. The Roman empire was now on the decline; the emperors had begun to feel the curse of too extensive dominion, and the effeminate son of Theodosius was but ill qualified in an age of universal degeneracy to brave the storm of the Gothic invasion. The army in Britain was recalled, and Honorius, in letters addressed to the cities, acknowledges their separation from the empire and leaves them to their own resources. Their northern neighbours, whom Gibbon is pleased to style savages, were not slow in invading their territory and in plundering their property. The wall of Severus presented but a weak barrier to the hardy sons of Caledonia, and they seem to have anticipated a feeble defence from men who had long been accustomed to look for protection to their Roman masters. In their difficulties the Britons sought the assistance of the Saxons and the pirates, Hengist and Horsa, who speedily obeyed the call, soon rescued them from the dangers with which they were threatened, and forced the Picts and Scots to seek the protection of their glens and mountains; but they seized the fairest portions of the country, which they had come to defend, and chased the Britons into Wales and Cornwall. South Britain once more became the scene of the grossest idolatry, and the worship of Woden, Hertha, and Zernebock, was substituted for the Gospel of Christ. The Saxons entertained the most deadly hatred against all who professed Christianity, and they persecuted and murdered them, whenever they fell into their power.

Matters continued in this state for a considerable period, but Providence opened up a way for the conversion of the Saxons. It does not belong to our present plan to give any general view of the method by which this was accomplished, but merely to narrate the circumstances which led to the introduction of Christianity among the Northumbrian Saxons by the Missionaries sent from Iona. The kingdom of Bernicia extended from the Tyne to the Firth of Forth, and seems to have included in it Cumberland and part of Westmoreland. It was founded by Ida, who built a castle at Bamborough on the sea-coast, and rendered that place the capital of his dominions. This building still remains, a splendid memorial of the ponderous architecture of ancient times. Aella, another Saxon chieftain, conquered the territory lying between the Humber and the Tyne, and founded a small kingdom, which was called Deira. Ethelfred, the grandson of Ida, married Acca the daughter of Aella, and united the two states, Bernicia and Deira, into one kingdom. It extended from the Humber to the Firth of Forth, including the six northern counties of England, and the Merse, and the three Lothians in Scotland. In taking possession of Bernicia, Ethelfred paid no regard to the rights of Edwin the infant son of Aella. It may be supposed, that he who deprived the youth of his paternal inheritance, would not have scrupled to put him to death, but Edwin escaped all his snares and machinations. He was carried to the court of Cadran, prince of North Wales, where he received an education suited to his rank. An unfortunate quarrel with Cadwallon the eldest son of Cadran, forced him to leave that country. After many reverses of fortune and many wanderings, ne obtained assistance from Redwald, king of the East Angles, and was finally put in possession of his father's kingdom along with that of Bernicia. Ethelfred was Lilled in battle, and his seven sons were obliged to flee

from the territories of their father, which were now called the kingdom of Northumberland. His second son Oswald, took refuge in Iona, and was educated under the superintendence of the successor of Columba. He was instructed in the doctrines of the Gospel, and was an eye-witness of the blessings which Christianity confers upon the people. By one of those sudden changes which the history of nations occasionally exhibits, Oswald was in the year 634 raised to the throne of Northumberland. His uncle Edwin is spoken of by historians as the best and greatest of the Anglo-Saxon monarchs, but he was involved in wars with his neighbours, and perished in a battle fought against Cadwallon, who had not forgotten the quarrel between himself and Edwin, when the latter lived at his father's court. The death of the king was the cause of many calamities to his subjects, and the year in which it happened, was long reckoned unfortunate and accursed by the inhabitants of Northumberland. Oswald took possession of the kingdom after the death of his elder brother, and by his wise administration speedily restored it to its former prosperity.

The events now narrated are neither new nor unknown, but they have been introduced here for the purpose of showing the causes by which a great change was produced in the religious condition of the northern division of the Heptarchy. Oswald saw with much concern the ignorance and idolatry of his subjects, and was anxious to make them acquainted with that religion in which he had been carefully educated at Iona. He therefore requested his former benefactors to send to him one of their number who might be qualified to instruct the people of Northumberland in the doctrines of the Gospel. They readily complied with his request, and sent Corman, who undertook the office of a missionary without the requisite qualifications. In what respect he was disqualified is not very clearly ascertained. Some writers blame the sternness and austerity of his manners, which were found unsuited to the babits of a rude and somewhat licentious people. Others say, that his mild and amiable dispositions rendered him unable to withstand the impatience and even fierceness of temper, which were manifested by men unaccustomed to the salutary restraints of the Gospel. Whatever might be the cause, Corman soon left Northumberland and returned to Iona. To the members of that college he gave an account of his mission, and of the ill success which attended his undertaking. Aidan was present, and made some observations on the duties of a Missionary to an idolatrous people, and the members immediately fixed on him to preach the Gospel in Northumberland. The Episcopal writers are most anxious to show that he was ordained by bishops, and was, therefore, a diocesan bishop himself. Aidan was ordained by such bishops as were the presbyters or elders at Ephesus, who were exhorted to feed the flock over which the Holy Ghost had made them bishops, and the missionary to Northumberland was a bishop or presbyter, for these are convertible terms.

Aidan proceeded, without delay, to perform the duties which his brethren had assigned to him, and commenced an attack upon the strongholds of idolatry. In the progress of his labours there can be little doubt that, as occasion required, assistants were sent to him from Iona, for otherwise his individual labours must have been comparatively useless in such a wide domain. But men imbued with a similar spirit followed up his exertions, and idolatry began gradually to fall into disrepute. Instead of proceeding through Northumberland with all the pomp and dignity of a bishop, Aidan bad to perform the humble work of an evangelist, and like the apostles of our Lord, he had to encounter the opposition and prejudices of those to whom he bore the glad tidings of salvation. Bede describes him as a man of eminent piety and ardent zeal, and, at the same time,

meek and moderate in his deportment. On his arrival at Bamborough he was unable to speak, and, perhaps, did not perfectly understand, the Saxon dialect. But this deficiency was supplied in a manner which proves the zeal of the king. Oswald had been accustomed to the Celtic language during his stay at Iona, and when Aidan preached to the people he acted as his interpreter. With such an auxiliary he was at least insured a respectful hearing. The obscurity which envelopes this portion of history, prevents us from forming any judgment regarding his success, but many circumstances lead to the conjecture that Christianity had made considerable progress in Northumberland during the life-time of Aidan. We read of several churches which he planted in various places, from the Humber to the Forth, and Melrose is particularly mentioned as owing to him its foundation.

The attention of the reader has been already directed to the testimony of Bede regarding this eminent servant of Christ. This testimony is repeated, in connection with his labours in Northumberland. It amounts to this, that he was eager to deliver to the people the whole counsel of God as it is contained in the Scriptures; and the practice of holiness, which he strongly recommended to others, he carefully exemplified in his own person. So far did truth require this statement, and it is but justice to admit that the historian of the Saxon Church gives it with perfect good will, and without the slightest attempt at concealment. But there are certain exceptions in the character of Aidan, which, in the view of Bede, brought all his instructions under very serious question. Aidan was zealous, but then his zeal was not according to knowledge, and he was after all in some respects a heretic. This grave charge is brought forward by Bede in the third chapter of the third book of his history. The heresy consisted in celebrating Easter, and doing some other things according to the established practice at Iona, and not according to the decrees of the bishop of Rome. As Presbyterians can discover no authority in the Bible for the celebration of this festival, it is probable the members of our Scottish Kirk will not less esteem the character of Aidan for this heresy with which he is so gravely charged. Oswald was removed to the regions of the blessed, to use the phraseology of Bede, in 644, but under his successor the labours of Aidan and his associates experienced no interruption. A college, similar to that of Iona, was established at Lindisferne on Holy Island, for the education of those designed for the office of the ministry, and its efficacy was afterwards extensively felt. The date assigned to this establishment is 635, at all events it existed before the death of Oswald; Aidan died in 651, and an estimate of his character may be formed from the testimony of Bede, to which we have already referred. He was peculiarly fitted, both by his preaching and practice, to recommend the Gospel to a rude and idolatrous people. The exact value of his labours cannot now be reckoned, but he holds a high rank among the men of that and a former age, who, in the face of hardship and privation, extended the knowledge of salvation, and conferred upon the people benefits which outlast the short span of human existence.

The writers who have been chiefly followed in the preceding narrative, proceed on the supposition that the inhabitants of Northumberland, when Oswald applied for a Missionary to the college of Iona, were in "a state of Paganism." This statement is generally but not strictly correct. Six years before the death of Edwin he and several of his nobles made public profession of Christianity. Paulinus, one of the Missionaries who had been sent to Britain, by Gregory Bishop of Rome, was appointed to labour in the neighbourhood of York, to which, however, his exertions were not exclusively confined. The king, we have reason to believe, sent for him, and was himself baptized along with the nobles. It may

be remarked that the winter residence of the court was at a place called, or at least written, Adgebrin, now pronounced Yeavering. There Paulinus staid for several weeks, chiefly employed in catechising and baptizing. The rivulet, on whose banks many people are said to have been baptized, was called Paulin's burn, or, as it is now pronounced, Palinsburn, and the name is still attached to a considerable estate in that district. It appears that the exertions of Paulinus were not followed with much fruit. Vigorous application to the instruction of the people was wanting, and, in all likelihood, the good intentions of Edwin were not executed in consequence of the wars which immediately followed. The instructions of Paulinus would be speedily forgotten, and the people left to themselves would soon return to the superstition, to which they were originally attached. We may, therefore, presume that when Oswald took possession of the kingdom, his subjects might be generally considered as Pagans.

At the death of Aidan application was again made to the college of Iona, and they appointed Finan bis successor. The meagre annals of those times scarcely afford an outline of the progress of the Gospel and the labours of a Christian minister, and though most beneficial, are seldom so striking or so prominent as to serve the purposes of history. The character of Finan is little known, but the silence of history may at least imply a negatively good character; there was nothing in his conduct which furnished just ground of complaint. Finan lived only a few years in Northumberland, and in the absence of other topics of panegyric, there may be bestowed on him the praise of having been worthy to be selected by the college at Iona to labour in a field which Aidan had so patiently and so carefully cultivated.

Colman succeeded Finan, under the same authority as his predecessors. It would appear that the college at Iona exercised a superintendence over the Missionaries in Northumberland similar to that which a modern Presbytery exercises over the parishes which are committed to its care. Even during the lifetime of Finan, disputes had arisen about the celebration of Easter and the clerical tonsure; and Bede hints at the warmth with which they were conducted, and at the obstinacy with which the Missionaries adhered to the simple prac tice of Columba and his successors. But after Colman entered upon his ministry, these disputes greatly increased. The wife of Oswi, the king, was a native of Kent, where ready obedience had been yielded to the bishop of Rome. The king and queen celebrated Easter at different times, and Colman had to ament the dissensions to which this gave rise in the royal household. In the year 664, it was considered expedient to hold a council at Streaneschalch, near Whitby, at which King Oswi was present, and which was called for the purpose of fixing the proper time for celebrating Easter, of determining the clerical tonsure, and of considering the supremacy of the bishop of Rome. Colman defended the practice which had been introduced into Northumberland, and stoutly resisted the pretended supremacy of the Pope. But the opposite party made up in numbers what was wanting in argument. They pleaded, that the bishop of Rome was the successor of Peter, and hence the practices introduced at Rome might be considered as possessing the sanction of apostolic authority. This plea seemed to have great weight with the council, and especially with the King of Northumberland. He asked Colman if it was true that Christ said, "Thou art Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it; and I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven." Colman admitted that it was so written in the Gospel. The king then said, “in as much as Peter is the door-keeper, I would not oppose him on any account, but rather yield him obedience, lest, when I come to the gates of heaven, I should find

them shut against me, by him who is allowed to keep the keys." The only merit of this mode of reasoning consists in its coming from the lips of a king, and yet it decided the question, which perhaps many present had prejudged. Colman had now the alternative of either submitting to the authority of the bishop of Rome, or resigning the charge which had been entrusted to him by his colleagues at Iona. He seems to have considered, that he would best fulfil their intentions by adopting the latter part of the alternative, and the connection between Iona and Northumberland was broken up, which had continued for about thirty years. The successor of Colman bowed to the authority of the bishop of Rome, and his supremacy was acknowledged in most of the kingdoms of the Heptarchy. In recording the circumstances which led to the dissolution of the connection between Iona and Northumberland, it is delightful to read the honest testimony of Bede to the personal and ministerial character of the Scottish Missionaries. They lived," says he, "in the plainest and most frugal manner, supporting themselves by their own labours. Their wealth was their cattle, and what money was presented to them they gave freely to the poor. Their conduct was so devout and discreet, as to bring religion into the highest repute; and its ministers were every where received with joy. In short, they were so devoted to the care of men's souls, that they were free from every tincture of avarice and regard of earthly possessions."

THE PYRAMIDS OF EGYPT.

[From Dr Duncan's Philosophy of the Seasons-Autumn.] THE most peculiar and remarkable of all architectural efforts, whether we consider their nature, or the toil expended in their erection, are assuredly the Egyptian Pyramids. For thousands of years these huge masses of solid masonry have withstood the ravages of time, and the rage of hostile armies. They continue, and to the end of time will continue, imperishable monuments of human power and vanity.

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There is something very marked and characteristic in Egyptian architecture. Its peculiar feature, is an awful and stern sublimity; but its mysterious vastness and severe simplicity, are without grace and without beauty. From these properties, however, the most powerful, if not the most refined and agreeable, emotions are experienced. Long withdrawing lines," says a talented writer in the Edinburgh Encyclopedia, "unbroken surfaces, large masses, simple contours, even should the individual forms be destitute of propor tion and grace, will always produce grand and solemn effects, capable of being carried to the majestic and sublime. Thus, in viewing the temples scattered over the Thebaid, those very edifices characterized by Strabo, as barbarous monuments of painful labour;' and in contemplating the pyramids, whose outline is without variety and contrast, the imagination is exalted to a high pitch of awe and astonishment. But these lofty efforts arise from a principle merely accidental; they are not the fruits of intrinsic science or refined art."*

The writer we have quoted, justly attributes this peculiar style of architecture to the predominant influence of the Egyptian priesthood, whose policy it was to perpetuate their power by investing themselves, and the productions of their domination, with a character of immensity and of permanence. The eternal durability to which, in all their designs and institutions they aspired, necessarily pointed out a style, retaining, as the most substantial, only the simplest forms and the largest

masses.

In the pyramids this character is pecularly marked. Whatever was their immediate object, it is obvious that the whole resources of art were employed to render * Edinburgh Encyclopedia, article—“ Sculpture."

them indestructible. Standing on an immensely extended base; tapering to a narrow top; within, compact and solid; without, formed of heavy blocks of stone, whose size has excited the astonishment of all beholders; nothing seems to have been left unthought of or undone, which could tend to produce that one object, durability co-extensive with that of the earth on which they were founded. What the more direct and particular intention of their erection was, seems still to be matter of doubt. Some persons have supposed that they were temples erected in honour of a deity, and an attempt has been made to prove that this deity was the sun, the first and greatest god in almost every heathen calendar. Considering them in this light, an ingenious writer remarks, that "it was natural to build them in that shape which the rays of the sun display when discovered to the eye, and which men observed to be the same in terrestial flame; because this circumstance was combined in their imaginations with the attribute they adored. If they were temples dedicated to the sun," he adds, "it seems a natural consequence that they should likewise be places of sepulture for kings and illustrious men, as the space which they covered would be considered as consecrated ground."†

That one of the uses of these enormous buildings was that of receptacles for the dead, is generally believed, and that they were so employed has been placed beyond conjecture, by the fact of sarcophagi and human bones having been found in them. Perhaps it is refining too much to look further for their object. It is well known that the ancient Egyptians spared neither labour nor expense in preparing the tombs, and preserving the bodies of their dead. This was probably the only immortality to which they looked forward, and their prejudices rendered it dear; for they imagined that so long as the body remained undecayed, the living principle continued to inhabit it. Near their chief cities, accordingly, are always found extensive ranges of tombs. In Upper Egypt these were formed by excavations in the sides of the adjacent rocky mountains, which were executed with such laborious art, that they to this day form a striking contrast with the rudeness of the surrounding desert. The pyramids are erected in the northern extremity of this wonderful valley in the neighbourhood of Memphis, the second capital of that ancient kingdom, and may have been intended to supply the want of mountains in that immediate neighbourhood, for the construction of mausoleums, if we are to believe that they are the work of this second period in the Egyptian history. They certainly are not unlike an imitation of mountains; and what might be supposed to favour this opinion, is, that a hill in the neighbourhood of the pyramids has been actually shaped by art into the pyramidal form, thus, by a kind of reaction, causing nature to copy back from art, what art had originally copied from nature.

The pyramids stand upon a plain about fifty miles long, stretching parallel to the Nile. This plain which, beneath the soil, is composed of hard calcareous rock, is about eighty feet above the level of the river, and forms an elevated platform, which gives a more imposing effect to those immense masses, as the traveller ascends from the lower valley. The three largest pyramids are in the neighbourhood of Ghizi, and bear the name of this village. The dimensions of the largest are differently given by travellers, but it is probably between five and six hundred feet high, and about seven hundred feet square at the base. It is ascended by steps, diminishing in height from four to two and a half feet, in approaching the top. Upon the top there is a platform thirty-two feet square, consisting of nine large stones, each about the weight of a ton, though inferior to some of the other stones, which vary in length from five to thirty feet. The stones are generally of the same † Gentleman's Magazine, for June 1791,