velvet. This was the third day since the ceremony commenced, and another day would still be required ere the oil would be ready. This oil, which consists of the ingredients prescribed in the Levitical law, is not prepared every year, but only every third or fourth. When the fire is kindled, and also when the ingredients are put into the kettles, the metropolitan is present to give his benediction; and this he repeats in a most solemn manner when the ceremony is about to be completed. During the whole time of the preparation, a succession of deacons keep up the reading of the gospels, and should they read through the evangelists they commence afresh. To us it was most interesting to behold a crowd of poor people leaning forward over each other, and listening to the word of eternal life.

"At the east end of the hall rose a stand. . . . . There was placed on it a great variety of gold and silver cups, and flagons of various sizes, among which, at certain distances, was a vast profusion of lighted candles. . . . The most remarkable object in this splendid exhibition of sacred utensils was a large flagon made of mother-of-pearl, which still contains some of the oil brought from Constantinople at the introduction of Christianity into Russia, in the tenth century. It is preserved with great care, so that when only a few drops are taken from it, as on the present occasion, their place is supplied by some of that which had been prepared at a former period, by which means its perpetual virtue is supposed to be secured. Close to the stove we observed an immensely large silver urn, and on a table on the opposite side of the hall, sixteen smaller ones, resembling the common tea-urn, only much larger. The oil thus prepared and deposited in these utensils is sent to all parts of the empire to be used for sacramental purposes."

-Have we been reading an account of a Christian ordinance? Is this a portion of the religion of Jesus?

We had marked for quotation some passages regarding the fasts or lents of the Greek Church, which are four in number, and during which the Russians are not permitted to eat flesh, eggs, or butter, but only vegetables, bread, and fish. Maslonitza, or Butter-week, is their carnival, and is spent in diversion. St Peter's fast, "the fast of the Blessed Virgin," St Philip's fast, and others, all evince the identity in spirit of the Greek and Latin Churches. These fasts extend to 226 days per annum. We designed also to have referred to the Ordination and Marriage ceremonies of the Greeks, as farther illustrative of their religious opinions, or their superstitions, but can now only quote the following section from Platon, as a kind of summary, by a moderate writer, of some of their practices. Speaking of traditions and ceremonies, Platon says (Part II. sec. xxxix.) :

"In the church there are many ceremonies which have descended from the days of the apostles themselves, or were instituted by their immediate successors, and have been observed by all holy antiquity; and though our salvation does not consist in them, yet they possess

their own share of usefulness, and we are bound with all due respect to observe them. Such, for instance, are the traditions following: In performing divine service, the servants of the church use becoming robes and garments.* We use candles in our churches as a mark of our burning faith. We incense with a censer as a mark of the offering up of our prayers. We cross ourselves, thereby testifying our faith in the crucified Saviour. We consecrate the water in remembrance of the Lord's baptism, as well as of our own. We adorn our churches with honourable pictures, that in beholding them we may be excited to imitate those whom they represent. We keep different holidays, in remembrance of the gracious acts of God, or of the holy lives of his favourites, and thereby we are much excited to godliness. These and such like ceremonies our church preserveth holy; however, she disclaims all superstition,-that is, such traditions as are contrary to the Word of God and unknown in holy antiquity."

We might farther dwell at great length on the nunneries and monastic institutions of the Greek Church, and the superstitions which nestle there. Peter the Great laid some restrictions on their fooleries, and the Empress Catherine II. deprived them of much of their property both in land and slaves, and transferred them to the state. But many still continue in great vigour; indeed, they cannot be abolished without a revolu tion, for the higher orders of the clergy must be elected from among the monks, at least in Russia. Mount Athos alone, the Ayrov ogos, is said by Pinkerton to be the seat of twenty monasteries of Greek monks; and the enormous number of 40,000 monks and hermits are alleged to frequent that neighbourhood, through all their gradations of Probationer, Proficient, and Perfect. Of the nunneries, it is said that "they are properly nothing but asylums for aged and unfortunate females," and do not belong to "those retreats of licentiousness, covered with the black veil of feigned devotion," with which the face of the church is so much blotted and disfigured.

It would be wrong to close these illustrations without a passing reference to the Greek festival of Easter. In former times, the Oriental Church boasted much of the fire which is said annually to descend from heaven at the sacred season, in the temple of the Holy Sepulchre. But the miracle is falling into disrepute, and is sometimes openly denounced as an imposture. The Saturnalia (Dr Wilson calls them Satanalia) which accompany the unblushing deception,

The priests' robes are made of the most costly silks and velvets, generally of gay colours, sumptuously embroidered with gold, and many of them studded with pearls and precious stones.

†The Russian crosses himself before meat; when about to pass a river, or begin a journey, or passing a church; and when he sees lightning or hears thunder, the head is then devoutly uncovered, and ejaculations repeated. The Russians cross themselves also during prayer; and at his baptism every individual receives a small cross-costly in proportion to the circumstances of the party, which is usually worn as an amule through life.

are worthy of their origin. The Greek devotees hurry from the extreme of savage excitement to as savage enjoyment. All that is indelicate and disgusting is rife, so that only the abominations of Bartholomew fair can rival it. "The fighting among the Greeks is quelled only by the scourge and the whip of the followers of the false prophet;" and when the imposture is consummated by the descent of the fire, the blaze and glare of the torches which are lighted on the occasion give the church the aspect of a pandemonium.

We are obliged to pass over, nearly in perfect silence, the different dissenters from the Greek Church, especially in Russia, though their views exhibit in many ways the state of religion in that wide-spread communion. Count Krasinski reckons the number of these dissidents at upwards of 5,000,000, but Mr Blackmore avers that they are returning to the national church at the rate of 20,000 persons per annum. One of the most instructive chapters in ecclesiastical history is that of the Rasholniks, or Schismatics of the Eastern Church in Russia.

The narratives of modern travellers regarding the atrocities perpetrated by some of the sects, under the name of religion, introduce us to some of the most dark and painful of all the aspects in which depraved human nature can be viewed.* The notion that self-murder is a sure passport to glory has occasioned many a death, and the Self-immolators have actually acquired the standing of a sect, with the fearful notoriety of Thugs. It is stated that many shut themselves up in places. constructed for the purpose, after having collected piles of wood, and other combustible materials, and, to the extent of thirty or forty at a time, set fire to the piles with their own hands, and perish amid the flames. This fire-baptism, amid which the Self-immolators continue to sing hymns of joy, is reckoned a sure preparative for blessedness, and the forests of Siberia frequently ring with the wild hosannas of these fanatics. Count Krasinski writes: +

"Baron Haxthausen, who visited Russia in 1843, says that, a few years ago, a number of these fanatics assembled on an estate, .. situated on the left bank of the Volga, and resolved to sacrifice themselves by mutual murder. After some preparatory rites, the horrid design was put in execution. Thirty-six individuals had been murdered, when attachment to life arose in a young woman, who fled to a neighbouring village, and gave information of what was going on. A number of people hastened to the scene of these atrocities; but they found forty-seven individuals murdered, and two murderers still alive. They were taken, and received the punishment of the knout; but they exulted at every lash, rejoicing to suffer martyrdom."

*See especially Baron Haxthausen's Studien über Ruzzland.

† P. 278.

-Suttee, and even Juggernaut, must hide its head before the sectaries of Russia!

We cannot now enter into details regarding the present state of religion in the different sections of the Greek Church; indeed, we have already anticipated these. Where superstitions so gross are rampant, there must be confusion, and every evil work, in regard to the simple truth of God. And yet, notwithstanding, elaborate attempts have been made, on the part of the Tractarians, as we have already seen, to achieve some sort of union between Lambeth and St Petersburgh. Mr Palmer is the apostle of this undertaking, and has adopted plans the most humbling, as well as arguments the most subtle, with a view to accomplish his cherished object. Jesuits on the one hand, and Anglo-Catholics on the other, are thus coquetting with the church of the Czar,for the present with only indifferent success. Meanwhile, at various points in the East the truth is spreading. But the details would require a separate article; and we can only in general announce, that wherever Christians have been permitted to proclaim God's message to men, men have been found to welcome and rejoice in it. It remains a problem for the future whether the Anglicans or the Romanists are to prevail in accomplishing a union with the Greeks, or whether all the three, eventually blending into one, are to sink together into the same dark and fathomless abyss of corruption.* We shall in another paper give a detailed account of the negotiations which have taken place between the various parties with a view to union; and the course of events in the East may speedily throw light upon the prospective practicability of such an issue.

ART. V.-1. Nineveh and its Remains. By AUSTEN HENRY LAYARD. In two volumes. London: 1849.

2. Discoveries in the Ruins of Nineveh and Babylon; with Travels in Armenia, Kurdistan, and the Desert: Being the

When the celebrated Gorham case was decided, and the unadulterated truth of God on the subject of baptism declared to be tenable in the Church of England, many took offence. Some of the Tractarians thought of turning to the East for an asylum. Remembering the correspondence between the English Church and the Orientals about a hundred and thirty years ago, which was to be "renewed at some future and more convenient opportunity," the aggrieved Romanisers deemed that opportunity to have come. A document was prepared, which has indeed never been acted on, and seems intrinsically to merit only contempt, but which is still an im portant "sign of the times." The ambassador of the Czar was to be appealed to, and the readiness of some to sink into deeper darkness than they have even yet reached, was made fully apparent.

result of a Second Expedition, undertaken for the Trustees of the British Museum. By AUSTEN H. LAYARD, M.P. London: 1853.

3. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. Vol. X., Parts I., II., III. The Persian Cuneiform Inscription of Behistun Deciphered and Translated; with a Memoir. By Major H. C. RAWLINSON. London: 1846.

4. A Commentary on the Cuneiform Inscriptions of Babylon and Assyria; including Readings of the Inscription on the Nimroud Obelisk; and a brief notice of the ancient Kings of Nineveh and Babylon. Read before the Royal Asiatic Society. By Major H. C. RAWLINSON. London: 1850. 5. A Later Communication from Lieutenant-Colonel Rawlinson, C. B., containing Outlines of Assyrian History from the Inscriptions of Nineveh; followed by some Remarks, by A. H. LAYARD, Esq., M.P.

6. Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy. Vol. XXII. Part XI. On the Inscriptions of Khorsabad. By the Rev. EDWARD HINCKS, D.D. Dublin 1851.

THE present age is emphatically one of transition. It is distinguished by all the marks which characterise such an epoch :it is discontented, restless, speculative, full of invention, indefatigable in its investigations of all kinds, and, while eager for reforms and change, is yet filled with gloomy forebodings of the near impending future. Man has enjoyed a large measure of liberty, civil and religious, since the time of the Reformation; but that liberty has not been wisely used; the authority of the Bible has not been sufficiently admitted and obeyed; society has not been adequately pervaded by its life-giving and lifepreserving principles; degradation, misery, and misrule are increasing; and mankind seem on the point of losing true liberty with all its blessings, which they have almost proved themselves unworthy to enjoy. Many efforts, all alike futile and abortive,-political, scientific, and literary or philosophical,have been made, and are being made, to satisfy the great want of which all are conscious, and to avert that threatened danger which all dread. Few, very few, directly and intelligently consult the Word of God, and seek to learn there, not only what are the true principles of civil and religious liberty, but how those principles can be realised, enjoyed, and permanently maintained. Yet there, and there alone, can it be learned how that inestimable blessing may be obtained and secured. Meanwhile Divine providence is leading men, by ways which they know not, and sought not, to perceive the marvellous truthfulness of that sacred book, THE BIBLE. While, therefore, in an age of at least incipient transition, such as we believe the pre