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we have already observed, does more or less overshadow | death of Donatus, the Bishop of Carthage, the general the early history of most of the luminaries of the Pri- voice, both of Presbyters and people, summoned him mitive Church. According to Pontius, the early edu- to the vacant dignity. This was only two years after cation of Cyprian was liberal, although he appears to his conversion from Paganism; and a nomination so bave been little conversant with the theories of the unprecedented in the history of the Church, is a proof metaphysical and ethical schools: this might be from of the high Christian proficiency to which he had his greater predilection for the study of oratory, in already attained. But the modesty of Cyprian shrank which he made such proficiency, that he publicly taught from so great a responsibility, and he humbly declined rhetoric at Carthage, and with high reputation. At this the offer. The people, however, were not to be so period his life was sufficiently splendid and luxurious, refused; his house was besieged, and his doors were as he lived in great abundance, had a magnificent watched to prevent his escape, so that he would have retinue, and never went abroad without a numerous fled by the window, had it been possible. At length, throng of clients and retainers. Such was his course after the multitudes had waited long, and trembled beof life even till the approach of old age, when he was tween hope and fear, Cyprian came out and signified his converted to Christianity by Cœcilius, a Presbyter of assent, which was received with the most lively tokens Carthage. From this circumstance, the grateful con- of satisfaction. Indeed, the nature of the episcopal vert adopted the name of his teacher, a practice that office at this time, when the Church was at once asseems to have been frequently followed by those who sailed by enemies from without, and rent asunder by were turned from Paganism to Christianity. On ac- false friends within her walls, was such, that the exicount of the rapid proficiency which Cyprian made in gencies of the case might well have made the boldest the knowledge of divine things, it is probable that he heart pause and tremble; and to illustrate the reluchad been acquainted with the doctrines of revelation tance of Cyprian more thoroughly, we shall corrobobefore he was converted, either through a personal rate it with an example taken from the life of Gregory acquaintanceship with Christians, or from a perusal of | Thaumaturgus, his cotemporary. This illustrious fatheir writings. But the proud and popular rhetorician ther having finished his Christian studies and returned was stopped by that doctrine which forms the very to Neocæsarea, his native town, was selected by Phothreshold of Christianity-the necessity of being born dimus, bishop of a neighbouring city, to be endowed again. "How," he asked, "can I strip myself of with the episcopal office in that quarter. But Gregory, what I was before, and, still retaining my personal iden- on learning this resolution, fled from his home to the tity, become a new creature? Nature and habit have neighbouring deserts, and shifted his place continually, closely entailed upon us the evils of humanity. How that he might not be discovered. At length, Phodimus can he learn to be abstinent who has been accustomed had recourse to stratagem to arrest the fugitive. He to splendid and luxurious fare? How can he who assembled the congregation, and having gone through has been used to purple and gold, and splendid attire, the worship, and usual solemnities, he declared that descend to homely clothing? Can the ambitious man both himself and Gregory, though at present parted, be contented with obscurity, or the master of a throng stood equally in the presence of God; and after this, of clients with solitude? Will he not still be haunted instead of the usual imposition of hands, he addressed by his besetting allurements, and subjected to their his discourse to the absent recusant, in which he set mastery?" These questions he often asked himself him apart to God, and constituted him Bishop of Neowhile he was still in the midst of Pagan darkness, and cæsarea. The result of an election so unusual in the upon a troubled sea of doubt and perplexity; and while proceedings of the Church was, that although there he thought of his own besetting sins, he felt as if they were only seventeen Christians in the place when Grewere constitutional parts of his existence from which gory entered into office, this handful rapidly increased he could never be separated. But the heavenly light into a numerous congregation-nay, we are even told which at last vouchsafed to shine in upon him, quickly that, at his death, only seventeen Pagans were to be dispelled this darkness and doubt, and enabled him to found in a city so great and populous. comprehend the mystery, as well as to see the necessity, of regeneration. He now perceived, that what was born of the flesh was of the "earth, earthy;" while that which was born of the Spirit was of God. fruits of these perceptions were soon manifested in the devotedness and self-denial of his conduct. He abandoned the pomps and vanities of his former state, that he might join a despised and persecuted people; he sold the greatest part of his estate, and distributed the money among the poor. The change also was as rapid as it was complete; so that, according to his biographer, he became almost a perfect Christian before he had fully learned the precepts of Christianity.

The

After Cyprian had continued for a short time a catechumen, he was received into the Church by the sacrament of baptism; and not long afterwards, having gone through the subordinate offices, he was raised to the rank of Presbyter. In this capacity he secured the love and confidence of the brethren, so that on the

Cyprian was appointed Bishop of Carthage, A. D. 248. The summary process of his conversion, and the rapidity with which he had passed from the lowest to the highest office in the Church, would have been perilous to many; and hence the propriety of the apostolic rule, in electing, "Not a novice; lest, being lifted up with pride, he fall into the condemnation of the devil." But no such deterioration was perceptible in the bearing of Cyprian. His looks, instead of an expression of pride or asceticism, had still a due mixture of gravity and cheerfulness, so that it was doubtful whether he was more worthy of reverence or love; and although he had renounced his former splendour, his decent attire was free from the ostentation of penury. Although five Presbyters had protested against his exaltation, the first days of his entrance into office had been tranquil, and he proceeded with zeal to reform the corruptions that had crept into the African Church. But a season of trouble speedily succeeded, and the Decian persecu.

tion commenced, which raged through the Eastern and
Western world, and threatened the extinction of the
Christian name. It was during this period that Cy-
prian was proscribed by special edict, and all persons
were warned against giving him shelter, while the
popular outcry commanded him to be thrown to the
lions. Cyprian thought, that if he continued to con-
front the public, he would only provoke the wrath of
persecution more fiercely against his Church; and, as
he also informs us, he was warned by a divine admo-
nition to withdraw himself from the storm.
This pru-
dent proceeding, which some might rashly condemn,
was more in accordance with Christian principle, than
that headlong eagerness for martyrdom, which was so
prevalent in the Church during the first three centuries.
But although he was thus absent in the body from
his people for two long years, he was present with them
in the spirit; and thirty-eight letters which he wrote
during this interval, attest his unwearied care of his
Church, and the sympathy which he felt in their suf-
ferings.

have prevented him from stepping forth, to become a sharer in their sufferings. But indeed the feeling of the Church was opposed to such a step; for the Christians of Rome, who were anxious at this period about the concealment of Cyprian, expressed their hearty approbation of his keeping close, as he was a personage who could not be spared at such a crisis. The persecution still continued to rage at Carthage, and the number of the lapsed was so mournfully increased, that nothing but the stedfastness of those who continued faithful to the death could have cheered the heart of the bishop in his retirement. The fiery trial was at last abated by the death of Decius, and Cyprian returned to Carthage, A. D. 281. On his arrival, an important question of discipline engrossed all his care. Certain irregular practices which had crept into the Church during the early ages of persecution had now risen to a height, and threatened to become a fertile source of corruption. When those who had apostatized, from the fear of torture and death, were desirous to return to the communion of the Church, they applied to some Christian under sentence, for a letter of recommendation to the faithful; and, in consequence of these re

the necessary probation. A second class of timid Christians, called Libellatici, were they who purchased libels of security and exemption from the heathen magistrate, excusing them from offering sacrifice during the season of persecution. A third were the Sacrificati, men who had actually presented offerings to idols; thus publicly renouncing their faith. Cyprian convened a synod of the neighbouring bishops, to discuss these weighty affairs; and it was concluded that the lapsed should be treated according to the rules of Scripture; they were not to be denied all hope of restoration, lest they should fall into impenitence or despair, nor yet be readmitted without probationary trial. A due regard was to be had to the aggravating circumstances of their apostasy; so that while the Libellatiei were to have a shorter period assigned to them, the Sacrificati were not to be restored until a long time had elapsed, and sufficient evidence been given of their repentance. It had been the custom, indeed, not to admit the latter to communion till the hour of death; but it was thought that men who were thus denied the cup of Christ would have no motive to accept the cup of martyrdom; and that now, when trials were multiplying, every encouragement should be given to the fallen, to confirm them anew, and fit them for resistance..

These sufferings, indeed, were neither few nor trivial. The African provinces, and especially Carthage, were exposed to the full brunt of persecution; and of the|ceipts, they were restored at once, without undergoing events that attended it the pastoral letters of Cyprian preserve a melancholy memorial. His people were scourged and beaten; they were racked, and scorched with fire; their flesh was torn off with burning pincers, or pierced through with spears; and sometimes more instruments of torture were employed than there were limbs to sustain them. They were spoiled of their goods, chained, and cast into prison; thrown to wild beasts, and burnt at the stake; and when these common methods of torture were exhausted, their enemies invented new, by which the death they grudged to their victims might be delayed to the utmost of human endurance. But in these epistles, also, we learn how much, in Carthage, the zeal of many had waxed cold. Indeed, Cyprian had regarded the sins of his people as the chief cause of these calamities; and he does not forget to lay open to them the crimes for which they were now exposed to so terrible a trial. Long peace had corrupted that purity of discipline which ought to prevail in a Christian Church. Covetousness had crept in among them, so that works of charity and mercy were neglected. Even their pastors and deacons had countenanced this decay of godliness, by engaging in secular pursuits, in which they deserted their duties and their flocks, to become usurers and money lenders. One and all, they had despised the Lord's correction, and therefore had these grievous calamities befallen them. These heavy charges were borne out by the conduct of multitudes during this season of trial and persecution. Many hurried to the forum, and offered

sacrifice to the idols, as they were ordered; and such, indeed, was the press of these candidates for inglorious safety, that when the magistrates wished to postpone the ceremony until the next day, many of these wretches entreated that they might be allowed to testify their recantation before the evening had closed.

In the meantime the bishop, from his solitude, continued to write both to the Christians of Carthage and Italy, exhorting them to persevere in their profession. The cry of their suffering rang hourly in his ears, and nothing but a sense of urgent, imperious duty, could

THE TEMPLE OF JUGGURNAUT.

MISS ROBERTS, in her "Scenes and Characteristics of
Hindostan," thus describes this celebrated monument

of heathen idolatry :—

of Orissa, in the district of Cuttack, the first Indian This celebrated temple is erected upon the sea coast land which the passengers of a ship sailing direct from England to Calcutta espy. The dark and frowning pagoda, rising abruptly from a ridge of sand, forms a conspicuous object from the sea, its huge and shapeless mass, not unlike some ill-proportioned giant, affording a gloomy type of the hideous superstitions of the is impressed with a strange awe; the bright and golden land. While gazing on this mighty Moloch, the mind sunshine above, and the waving foliage below, only serve to deepen its horrors. It looks like a fuul blot

upon the fair face of nature-a frightful monument of man's success in marring the designs of his Creator. At Hurdwar, it is not only very possible to sympathize in the feelings of the multitudes, whose adoration is called forth by the bright river, one of the greatest blessings which the Almighty has bestowed upon the burning soil, but to go even farther, and lift up our thoughts, amidst the most beautiful scenes of nature, unto nature's God. At Juggurnaut, there is nothing save unalloyed horror. Frightful idols, enclosed in an equally frightful shrine, and seen when viewed from the land to be surrounded by a waste of sand hills, revolt the mind, and give to superstition its most disgusting aspect; and the disagreeable impression, which a distant prospect excites, is increased, upon a nearer approach, to a scene associated with all that is most fearful and disgusting in religious error. Every known rule of architecture being set at defiance, it would be difficult, without the aid of the pencil, to convey any idea of the half-tower, half-pyramidal style of the great pagoda: it is built of a coarse red granite, brought from the southern parts of Cuttack, and covered with a rough coating of chunam. The tower containing the idols, which is two hundred feet high, and serves as a land-mark to the mariner, stands in the centre of a quadrangle, enclosed by a high stone wall, extending six hundred and fifty feet on each side, and surrounded by minor edifices of nondescript shapes.

A favourite method of approach to Juggurnaut, by those who have either great offences to expiate, or who are desirous of obtaining a more than ordinary portion of beatitude, is to measure the length of the whole way from some extraordinary distance. The pilgrim lies down, marks the spot which the extremity of his hands have touched, and rising, rests his feet upon the spot, and, again prostrating himself, repeats the same process. Five years are sometimes consumed in this manner, and, as the penance may be performed by proxy, it is often volunteered for a certain sum of money, the wages being most scrupulously earned by the person who undertakes the duty. In no part of the world is gold so all-powerful as in India. Upon the morning of an intended execution, a stranger appeared in the place of the criminal, and declaring that he had, for a certain consideration, agreed to suffer for the person who had made the bargain, seemed quite astonished to find any hesitation on the part of the authorities to execute the sentence, remonstrating with them upon the folly of their scruples, since he was ready and willing to perform his part. Fortunately for him he had not to deal with his own countrymen, who, provided that somebody died, would have cared very little whether it was the offender or his substitute.*

The great temple of Juggurnaut was erected in the twelfth century, under the auspices of the chief minister of the rajah of the district. The idols have noThe magnitude of these buildings forms their sole thing to distinguish them save their size and their declaim to admiration; they are profusely decorated with formity; the principal one, Krishna, is intended as a sculpture, but so rudely carved as to afford no pleasure mystic representation of the supreme power,-for the to the eye, the only object worthy of praise being a Hindoos are unanimous in declaring that they worship pillar of black stone, beautifully proportioned and only one god, and that the images which they exhibit, finely designed, which has been brought from the and to which they pay the most reverential homage, black pagoda in the neighbourhood, and placed in front are merely attributes of a deity pervading the whole of the principal entrance. The outer gateway and the of nature;-he is associated with the two other pergreat portal of the temple are ascended by broad flights sonages of the Hindoo triad, and every one of the idols of steps, and the interior is described as being very particularly venerated by the numerous tribes and sects curious and well worthy of inspection, a sight which, of Hindostan, obtains a shrine within the precincts of however, is very rarely enjoyed by Europeans. The this huge temple, so that all castes may unite in celeBrahmins in attendance take care to exclude all pro- brating the great festival with one accord. The infane footsteps; but it is said, upon the authority of stallation of the great idol upon his car, or rath, and Major Archer, that a young officer of a native corps, the procession attendant upon his triumphal march to a peculiar favourite with the sepoys under his com- a country residence about a mile and a-half distant, a mand, was at one time smuggled into the sanctuary by journey which occupies three days, are performed with the connivance of the soldiers, who dyed his skin of many ceremonies, though not all of a very respectful the proper bue, dressed him in full costume, and paint- nature. Previous to this grand ovation, the images ing the peculiar marks of their caste upon his forehead are taken from their altars to be bathed, and are then and nose, crowded round him upon all sides, and, thus exhibited to public view upon an elevated terrace. secured from detection, brought him into the very presence of the idol. A distant view, notwithstanding the zeal of his conductors, was all that he obtained; and either there not being a great deal to attract his attention, or a sense of danger preventing him from feeling sufficiently at his ease to make many observations, the information acquired from his account was very scanty.

These gigantic busts, hideously ugly, and scarcely bearing the rudest lineaments of the human form, are seen mounted upon pedestals, the latter being concealed by muffling draperies. The hands, feet, and ears of the great idol are of gold, but these are kept in a box by themselves, and are only fastened into their sockets after Juggurnaut has been safely deposited upon his

car. He told his friends that he saw nothing but large courts and apartments for the priests.

The festival of the Rath Jatra takes place every year; but, as at Hurdwar, it increases in sanctity at peculiar periods, every third, sixth, and twelfth anniversary, the latter more particularly being considered of greater importance than those that intervene. The concourse of pilgrims is still exceedingly large; and numbers, as in former times, never return, leaving their bodies to fester on the neighbouring sands, victims to a horrible superstition, though not, as heretofore, sacrificed under the suicidal wheels of the cruel idol's car. Such immolations are becoming very unfrequent; but fatigue, hardship, want of food, and the various diseases brought on by exposure to the pestilential atmosphere of the rains, make fearful havoc among the miserable wretches who hasten onwards to the holy precincts of the temple, in the hope of obtaining a panacea for all their woes.

While seated in state upon the terrace, a canopy, gay with cloths of various colours, is raised over the heads of the triad, and crowds of Brahmins are in attendance with punkahs and chowries, to beat off the flies. Occasionally, the sudden flash of a vivid firework sheds a momentary ray upon the horrid countenances of these Dagons, and in the next instant all is again involved in the indistinet gloom of an eastern twilight, dimly revealing the huge forms of the idols, and the eager gesticulations of their misguided votaries. The unwieldiness of Juggurnaut and his companions, and the absence of the machinery necessary to effect their removal in a proper and decorous manner, occasions a scene which scandalizes European eyes, but which the natives, accustomed to the doctrine of expediency, survey without feeling that they are offering any indignity to the objects of their worship. The only method of transport which has been yet devised,

• Such substitutions are not uncommon in China,

and takes advantage of every incautious, slumbering moment, to give a parting wound. Nature's diseases and infirmities remain; and the spirit, winged for beaven, the back already turned, the foot already lifted from the earth, is assailed by a thousand arrows from beneath, to bring it down again. The flesh is touched, wings flutter, the strength fails-down and down again still soaring, and still struggling upward, but still returning, as some fresh missile reaches it. The believer's happiness is a cup-but as he drinks it out, he must go to refill it where he had it first. He thirsts, and must go to the spring-he hungers, and must go to be fed his supply of happiness is not within him. The first great source of comfort, is the Redeemer himself, besought in humble, fervent prayer: the Holy Scriptures are its richest stream, and are most eminently suited to impart it. There is no kind, no condition of sorrow, to which they do not address themselves. There is no possible circumstance of misery for which they do not suggest an adequate relief, or a suffering to which they do not administer a medicine. To cheer,' to soothe, to strengthen-to shame our impatience, to allay our fears, to encourage our efforts, to unload our bosoms, to make us rejoice in the midst of sorrow, and triumph in the deeps of despondency-what gentle remonstrances, what persuasive arguments, what powerful examples, what celestial promises! Very little indeed do they know of the importance of the Holy Scriptures, who do not go to them for happiness.MISS C. FRY.

is by means of ropes fastened round the necks and feet of | As long as life remains, its companion, sin, tarries too, these cumbrous images, which are thus dragged from their high places down the steps, and through the gateways of the temple, and are afterwards hauled up in the same manner up on the raths, without regard to mud or dust. The car of Juggurnaut is a monstrous vehicle, gigantic in its dimensions, and associated in the mind with images of horror; it is a sort of platform, forty-three feet in height and thirty-five feet square, moving upon sixteen wheels, each six feet and a-half in diameter: the ornaments with which it is decorated are by no means splendid, its principal attraction being a covering of striped and spangled broad cloth. The villagers of the neighbouring pergunnahs have their fields rent-free, upon the condition of attendance at the cars of the idols. This duty, at present esteemed a privilege, is not exclusively confined to those who are so well rewarded for its performance, but, before the whole ceremony concludes, the zeal of many of the devotees is so completely exhausted, that the raths would scarcely reach their destination were it not for the services which the Brahmins can command. It takes fifteen hundred men to put each of the cars of Juggurnaut in motion, and, when the idols are fairly established in their places, the shouts and cries of the frenzied multitude are such as to lead us to fancy that the whole of Pandemonium had been let loose, an idea which is strengthened by the fiend-like figures of the Jogies, Gosseins, and other religious mendicants, whose grim visages, lighted up with a frantic joy, give them a superhuman appearance, as they cheer on their insane followers to acts of horror. Though the ponderous wheels of Juggurnaut no longer go crushing over the bodies of prostrate victims, the fury and excitement with which the assembled crowd rush to the car is absolutely appal

ling. In places of very inferior note, there is something
frightful in the noisy lumbering progress of the cum-
brous rath, surmounted by a hideous idol, dragged about
in honour of the festival; but in the very heart and
centre of this abominable superstition, the celebration
becomes perfectly terrific, and the senses, over-wrought,
faint and sicken at the view. The scenery of the place,
its bare sands, the surging of the ocean in the distance,
the drenching rains, damp gales, and sudden tempests
of the fitful atmosphere, add to the wild horrors of
this awful pageant.
Each day the exhibition becomes
more ghastly, as the wan victims of famine and disease
drop exhausted around, making a golgotha of the un-
hallowed precincts.

The most sacred portion of the soil round the temple of Juggurnaut extends to a circle of about eight miles, though the land is considered holy to a much greater distance; and the whole, during sickly seasons, may be said to be covered with the dead bodies of the pilgrims, who, unequal to encounter exposure to the inclemency of the weather, sink under accumulated hardships, to form a frightful banquet for carrion birds and beasts of prey. Most authorities agree, that the tax which was levied by the government upon the pilgrims to Juggurnaut, here as well as at Allahabad, tended to diminish the number of persons resorting to the festival, and also the amount of suicides. Still a good deal of scandal was excited by the support of an establishment, by Christian rulers, of a stud of elephants, horses, and other equipments for the service of the idol; and the annual waste of life, though not occasioned by actual offerings to the blood-stained wheels of the demoniacal car, is nearly equally shocking, as the result of one of the most frightful delusions that ever spread its curse upon the human race.

CHRISTIAN TREASURY. Happiness to be found in Religion.—There is happiness in religion. But religious people are not always happy.

about your bed, and about your path, and spieth out An All-seeing God.-If you believe that God is all your ways, then take care not to do the least thing, thought, which you have reason to think would offend nor to speak the least word, nor to indulge the least him. Suppose that a messenger of God, an angel, were now standing at your right hand, and fixing his eyes upon you, would you not take care to abstain from every word or action that you knew would offend him? Yea, suppose one of your mortal fellow-servants, supextremely anxious how you conducted yourself both in pose only a holy man, stood by you, would you not be word and action? How much more cautious ought you to be when you know, not a holy man, not an angel of God, but God himself, the Holy One, is inspecting your heart, your tongue, your hand, every moment, and that he himself will surely call you to an account

for all you think, speak, or act! REV. J. WESLEY.

GOD THE FOUNTAIN OF LIFE AND HAPPINESS :
A DISCOURSE.

BY THE REV. GEORGE ROMANES, A. M.,
Minister of the Scotch Church, St Francis, Upper Canada.
"For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light
shall we see light."-PSALM xxxvi. 9.

IN this Discourse we intend to make some remarks on the view which the text presents of God as the Author of all existence and of all happiness, and the connection of the whole with the nature of the Christian dispensation.

I. God is the source of all existence: "With thee is the fountain of life."-By the fall the mind of man has been rendered indisposed, and, in some measure, unfit, to contemplate God as the Maker of the universe. We live in a world of second causes, and are surrounded by a vast assemblage of visible things. The soul, confined to a mortal

body, and encompassed by a material world, is thus their God. Happy and glorious beings! confined debarred, as if by a double wall, from the contem- by no mortal body, they saw the Eternal One face plation of the invisible state. Its corrupt and de- to face, and at the very first moment of their exbased faculties are too feeble to overcome the ob-istence they felt themselves to be in the bosom of struction; and hence, like a weak monarch, it sinks the Deity. into apathy, and is entirely governed by its servants and ministers, the senses. A God who is unseen, unheard, and unfelt, is soon forgot; and, amidst the most stupendous examples of his power and wisdom hardly obtains the tribute of a single thought. Man beholds the world filled with ceaseless motion and perfect harmony, yet asks not whence do this motion and harmony proceed. He sees all nature full of life he feels life beating in his own bosom, yet thinks not of Him in whom the whole universe lives and moves and has its being.