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illustrious dead, and the whole multitude joined in extolling the memory of their lamented king. For that long time they gave themselves up to the most passionate exclamations of grief. Companies of two or three hundred men and women, with dust on their heads, and girt with linen girdles, marched solemnly in procession twice a day, singing the praises of Sesostris in mournful dirges, and commemorating his virtues, in order to excite the grief of the bystanders. All this while they abstained from flesh and meat, as also from wine and all other delicacies.

They neither bathed nor anointed themselves, nor slept in their beds, but every one mourned night and day as for the loss of a beloved father or friend; and their manner of expressing it was very peculiar. The whole multitude, excited by the mercenary mourners, who were great adepts in the art of inflaming the passions, burst forth into the most furious and piercing cries, so that the air was rent with the acclamations. Every day they renewed their shrieks at dawn, and in concert, continuing for a long time, and manifesting the greatest vehemence of feeling and gesture. The longest and most violent acts were, when they had laid down the body previous to depositing it in the place of interment, and taking the last farewell of it. Their cries were then long and frightful, and seemed as if they were uttered by persons who were overwhelmed with irretrievable despair. Precisely of this description seems to have been the occupations of the commpany that composed the funeral procession of Jacob when they halted approaching the borders of Canaan. Whatever was the reason of this sudden halting there, whether it was the custom, on entering the country where the corpse was to be buried, to give way to lamentations, which were to be repeated again at the grave, or whether the thrashingfloor of Atad was a more convenient place than the field of Macpelah, where the relics of the patriarch were to lie, the whole procession stopped during the protracted term of seven days, and indulged in the most passionate expressions of grief. This was done, as it is with many of the Asiatics still on such occasions, at various intervals between the death and the funeral of their friends, with a view more emphatically to express their grief, when they ar aboute to lay their dead in the tomb. They then resign themselves to the full tide of sorrow, and

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pour out their effusions of grief more copiously as they approach the place and time, when the remains of their departed friends are to be for ever withdrawn from their eyes. It seems to have been in order to embrace this last opportunity of mourning that the Egyptians halted, as they passed the limits of the land where the body of Jacob was to lie. In the sad farewell the whole assembly joined, mourning with a great and very sore lamentation" for seven days; and the people of the place, judging the extremity of their grief by their frantic cries and wild gesticulations, which for so long a period they indulged, perpetuated the memory of the extraordinary and affecting scene, by calling that spot ever after by the name of Abel-Mizraim, the mourning of the Egyptians.

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It seems to have been according to the will of Providence, as well as the ardent wishes of the venerable father of Israel himself, that his remains should be carried, immediately after his death, to the land of promise, in order that the three patriarchs, with whom God had entered into covenant, might, as it were, by their latest act, take possession of the country which was the destined inheritance of their tribes, and by their deaths as well as their lives, afford examples of faith to those who should come after them. But, with the exception of these three, none of the succeeding fathers of the Hebrew family were conveyed at their decease to the land of Canaan, till the whole race emigrated to that chosen settlement; the corpses of all, as they died, being retained in Egypt, and disposed of in the costly and elaborate manner in which the Egyptians were wont to preserve their dead.-Jamieson.

THE STATE OF THE WORLD IN CONNEXION WITH THE JUBILEE EFFORTS OF THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY. In the contemplation of those changes which have taken place in the condition of nations since the period when the Religious Tract Society, and other kindred Institutions, sprung into existence, it is impossible not to observe the vastly-increased facilities which have been vouchsafed for the dissemination of the truth. At the termination of the last century, many and formidable were the barriers which arrested its progress. The larger portion of the world was closed against the activities of Christian benevolence. British cupidity and misapprehension re

where the spirit of persecution has raged, and martyr-blood has flowed, and the faith and heroic constancy of the first sufferers for Christ have re-appearedMadagascar begins to bear on the dark clouds that have gathered over it the bright bow of promise. We are cheered by the hope that if the blood-stained queen should not relent, the son of that queen-now giving decided evidence of piety-may be spared to restore and to extend the blessings of Christianity throughout the land.

fused access to the myriads of Hindostan. | the Saviour, aud its burning sands have The cruel demon of slavery resisted the been long trodden by the feet of the endeavour to reach the down-trodden heralds of salvation. Till of late, the negroes of the west. A breach had hardly beautiful islands which are set like gems been made in the mighty wall which in the waters of the Southern Pacific, girdled a third of the globe's population have afforded free scope for Christian lain China. The midnight of heathenism bour; and although one of those isles has had scarcely begun to yield to the dawn- been for the present wrested from us, ing beams of the Sun of righteousness. others invite cultivation, and repay the Deep-rooted and wide-spread systems of toil bestowed upon them. Madagascar superstition had scarcely been loosened and shaken. The chain of caste had not been weakened. The power of prejudice had not given way. But few of the languages and dialects of men had been mastered, and many had been reduced to no form and fixture. The discoveries of science, and the achievements of enterprise, had done little to diminish the expense, and toil, and danger incurred in reaching the remote parts of the earth. And all the evils attendant on a protracted war, both as they affected our own and other countries, opposed and repressed the efforts of the Christian church;-for, alas! the spirit of this world's conflicts can have nothing in unison with that of holy benevolence, and its weapons must clash with those of our warfare, which are not carnal, but "mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds." Now, however, we behold a contrast which cannot but awaken the astonishment, inspire the gratitude, and encourage the hope of the pious mind. Who, as he ponders it, can refrain from the exclamation, "What hath God wrought! It may almost be said the world-the world is open to the church. British India opposes not a solitary obstacle. The missionary of the cross may traverse its broad and sultry plains, enter the abodes of its people, stand in the front of its very temples, and fulfil his mission without hindrance or intimidation. The genius of emancipation-the offspring of Christianity-has snapped the chain of the slave asunder; and among those who were deemed too imbruted to be capable of receiving instruction, have been found a people prepared for the Lord!" Even our own unrighteous commerce, and the war waged in its defence, have been singularly overruled to open for us wellnigh a free passage into China; so that in the ports assigned to the British empire, we have immediate access to millions of her overwhelming population. The vast continent of Africa, with her various and barbarous tribes and hordes, may be reached by the self-denying servants of

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Whilst "wide and effectual doors" are thus opened in distant parts, surprising progress has been witnessed in all that affects, and is designed to promote, the welfare of our fellow-men. National antipathies have been overcome, prejudices have been subdued, caste has been broken, languages have been acquired, and, in numerous instances, formed. The word of God, and other religious books and tracts, have been translated into the greater number of tongues used by the civilized or savage of mankind ComTM merce has contributed to open the way for the agents of mercy, though they have not unfrequently prepared the way for commerce. Art and science have been subordinated to advance the triumphs of the gospel. They have been employed to multiply the means of instruction, to facilitate the intercourse of distant peoples, to unite them as in one, to cast up as it were a highway to the remotest parts of the earth. The spirit of inquiry has been evoked.

The mind of man,

where it had remained sunk in torpor, or contented and pleased with systems and rites of delusion, the most puerile and absurd, degrading and revolting, has begun to awake from its lethargy, to put forth its native vigour, to assert its essential majesty. It has lost its confidence in ancient superstitions. It is beginning to feel after something new and something better; looking about for that which will slake the thirst excited, and satisfy the sense of need. And, alas! it is seeking in too many instances already, particularly

in Britith India, that satisfaction in the chilling and deadly negations and blasphemies of infidelity, instead of the soulelevating and soul-saving realities of truth.

The establishment of peace betwixt ourselves and the nations of the neighbouring Continent-which now, happily, for a long period has been undisturbed, has greatly favoured the operations of Christian philanthropy. Yet, until of late, the stern bigotry of Rome had shut and barred the greater portion of Europe from the truth in its purity and power. Recent events have wrought an extraordinary change in the condition of those kingdoms, over which popery extended its most besotting influence, enslaving domination, and unresisted sway. It is impossible not to mark and gratefully to acknowledge here, the peculiar goodness of the Supreme Ruler in the signal preservation vouchsafed to our country. That we have been favoured with comparative peace. That our political constitution has been maintained inviolate. That we have reposed beneath a form of government which, whatever may be its defects, is, we think, on the whole, the best calculated to secure the liberty and foster the interests of the subject, and to give the required support and legitimate authority to the throne. But for what, under God, are we indebted for the maintenance of tranquillity amid wellnigh universal confusion? Why has the ark of our precious privileges been kept from falling into the hands of lawless, violent, and misguided men? Must we not attribute it to the diffusion of religious intelligence-to the existence of pious feeling to the deep hold which the great principles of the gospel have taken of the public mind? This has been at once the ballast and anchor of the vessel which has held it fast, and kept it steady while surrounded, and not unassailed, by the angry surge and furious hurricane of popular commotion which have swept over other nations, and whereby, in some instances, they have been whelmed and wrecked. Herein we witness the incalculable benefits resulting from our various religious institutions, among which the Religious Tract Society has been prominent while all have been engaged in the great work of scattering over the land "the incorruptible seed of the word of God," and, through His effectual benediction, we are reaping that which we have sown. It would be far from proper in these pages

| to enter into a consideration of the political aspects, or the probable consequences of the revolutions which have taken place on the continent of Europe. It is not that which is political, but that which is moral, to which our attention must be turned; and we can attach no value to the former, except as it works in subserviency to the latter. The higher order of intelligences, when introduced to our view, are represented, not as interested in the discoveries of science, the productions of art, the extension of commerce, the displays of human energy and genius, in the rising or the falling of empires; though, probably they are not indifferent to these, so far as they relate to the true happiness of men-but their intelligent, and pure, and benevolent natures receive the profoundest impression, and thrill with the intensest delight, as they witness the triumphs of redemption: "There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth."

When, by the operation of redeeming grace, we become even 66 as the angels,' in this we shall be like-minded with them, and with Him who is the Lord of angels and men. That which awakens the deepest concern in such as are "of the world," will affect us little: that which they disregard will affect us much. They look abroad upon the earth with inquiring, anxious hearts, that vibrate at every rumour,-are stirred by every change, and agitated by every convulsion,―elate with hope, or "failing them for fear;" and well may it be so when their little all is at stake. We cannot, indeed, be unconcerned spectators of the things which have come, and may be coming, to pass; that sceptres are broken; that thrones are demolished; that kings are deposed; that dynasties are overthrown; that the people, trampling under foot the authority of their rulers, have determined themselves to rule; and that all law, and order, and authority, have given place to violence, anarchy, and blood. But terrible as are these phenomena, we do not regard them in themselves, nor do we survey them with the eye of the politician, or mere philosopher. Our object is to contemplate them as the Christian, to ascertain their causes, and to apply the remedy.

We can view the commotions which engage our attention but as the outbreaks of the disease which had long been radicated in the system. Or as the loud bellowing of the volcano, and fierce out

flaming of the lava torrent, which before it shot upwards and spread onwards its scathing and resistless deluge, was long gathering, boiling, flashing within, giving, in some instances at least, the distinct and sure prognostics of the coming eruption. We might seek the causes of that which now appears in the conduct of princes. We might speak of the people withheld from the enjoyment of privileges to which they had an inalienable claim. We might regard them as goaded by a sense of wrong, and stimulated by a desire of right, to break through legal restraint, that they might take by force what was not accorded to them by equity. We might dwell on the lesson so emphatically read to the potentates of this world -that a day of retribution for selfish, arbitrary, oppressive rule, though long deferred, will at length arrive, that righteousness only can be the stability of thrones or of nations, and, in the language of inspired declaration, "He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God."

But if we traced the events that have thickened before us no further than this, our view would be most superficial and inadequate, even if so far it were correct. There is a deeper source than all, in the moral condition of the mind. That mind on the continent of Europe has not, but with comparatively few exceptions, been brought under Christian influence. Beneath the name of Christianity there have been forms of superstition which, however they have enthralled, have neither satisfied nor sanctified the heart. Where there has not been submission to the papal church, there has extended, as in France, a bold infidelity-or as in Germany, a proud rationalism; while multitudes and myriads have exhibited a state of utter godlessness. The soul to a fearful extent has thus been left without the religion which alone can teach submission to the will of God, and to the just authority of man. What marvel, therefore, while that soul has been the subject of wants, which nothing less than an Infinite Good can supply-while it has been excited and agitated by restless and insatiable passions-while it has been looking for happiness exclusively to the things of earth while it has been throwing off the restraints which revelation places on the conduct, where it does not renew the spirit-while it has been ready to embrace every error that fell in with the prevailing disposition, and to become

the dupe of every leader that promised the fulfilment of its desires-and while, moreover, there may have been much in the political circumstances demanding redress and correction-what marvel, we say, all this considered, that Europe has been the theatre of a tragedy so terrible, some of the successive acts of which we have witnessed, but which may even now be far from its close?

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While, then, we find the chief cause of the convulsions which have shaken neighbouring nations in the moral state of the people, whatever may have operated immediately to provoke them in their civil condition, where shall we find an effectual remedy for these evils but in the religion of the Cross? It is that only which can fathom the deeps, and satisfy the yearnings of our immortal nature; which at once discovers and supplies its necessities; which reveals to it the Fountain of eternal blessedness, and removes the stone from the well that our guilt had laid upon it, while it presses the invitation to come and drink; which reconciles, as the first great object, man to God, then reconciles man to himself, and man to his fellow; which comprises laws for all, and such as in their application to all, are equally "holy, and just, and good;" which does more, for it "puts them in the inward parts, and writes them upon the heart," thus securing a willing and constant obedience to them. that obedience is fulfilled, so does the religion of Jesus produce love where there was hatred, unity where there was disagreement, peace where there was war, and joy and happiness where there was misery and woe. This it does for the individual, the family, the nation, the continent, the world! Ah, this is the religion needed by France, and all the distracted kingdoms around her, that is pre-eminently necessary now. How necessary for the princes that have been compelled to abdicate their thrones, or are trembling upon them. How necessary for those to whom are intrusted the affairs of legislation, but who never found it so difficult to legislate. How necessary for the people, distracted, disappointed, impoverished, in multitudes of instances in the extremest_destitution, deprived of employment through the suspension of work, despondent or exasperated, in a state to be kindled at once, if not fired already by the incendiary writings which are extensively spread. And how many are the widows and

orphans of those who have fallen in the conflict, left to eat "the bread of adversity," and to drink "the water of affliction?"

Now, while there exists so urgent a need of the blessings of Christianity, the most abundant opportunities for their diffusion are afforded. He who "maketh the wrath of man to praise Him," has overruled the agitations which have occurred for the removal of many of the barriers that prevented the entrance of His truth. In those organic changes which have taken place in the governments of continental Europe, the universal tendency has been to greater freedom, and, among other advantages, the liberty of the Press has been in several instances conceded. In France popery, indeed, is employing all the efforts of the most jesuitical policy to maintain its power. In Italy, while hope may be indulged that ere long there will be the free circulation of the word of God, former restrictions are not withdrawn, though in some degree relaxed. In Switzerland, persecution is still felt in Lausanne and Vaud; and what renders it more odious is, that it proceeds from a government professing_liberalism. Yet, as it has been said, "Luther's reformation, considered in relation to the right of private judgment, pursues its victorious career:-it knocks at the gates of the Vatican, and even compels the sovereign pontiff to incline his head before its universal empire." It is an interesting fact, and may be mentioned in proof that this right is recognised beyond the bounds of Christendom, and where we should have least expected to find it, "that even in the heart of the Turkish Mohammedan empire God has raised up a free Christian church, and has constituted the Turkish sultan the protector of its freedom; and we have the singular spectacle of the sultan teaching the pope what be the principles of religious liberty, and demanding from him the restoration of three kidnapped children, violently detained in Rome to be educated Romanists." We have already seen that in other parts of the globe, in every part, with but small exception, there is access for the servants and the gospel of Christ!

Thus, then, God by his providence has been preparing his own path, and we may hope he has commissioned, or permitted, the spirit of revolution to go forth, and to effect the political emanci

pation of man; that-deluded as he may be for a while by the idea of obtaining social, national, and even worldwide regeneration, but without the regeneration which the truth and Spirit of God alone can accomplish-he may be brought at length, with all his blighted hopes, unhealed maladies, and deep necessities, to embrace the long-despised message of celestial mercy, and thus to enter into the liberty wherewith Christ maketh his people free.

However this may be, it is unquestionably the will of God that his church should avail herself of the facilities presented, that she should enter the doors which, on the European continent and elsewhere, are thrown open, that she should hasten to relieve the exigent condition of the myriads, whose miseries can be effectually remedied, and whose aspirations can be adequately met, only by a higher order of benefit than that which they pursue. And doubtless he would have us to be influenced by the consideration that, but as the people, now in a transition state, become enlightened and sanctified by the Divine word, will they be prepared to form those institutions which shall permanently secure national liberty, and be the foundation of national greatness. With them it is a crisis both moral and political. And as we believe that all sound politics must be derived from the spirit and maxims of Christianity, a regard both to the eternal and temporal interests of the population of Europe, should press upon us a claim the most irresistible, as it manifestly is the most urgent.

We have scarcely any need to inquire, what are the precise means we should employ. In connexion with the living voice of the preacher wherever it may be heard, and the circulation of the inspired volume wherever it may be introduced, the wide distribution of religious tracts must commend itself as a kind of instrumentality peculiarly adapted to the existing state of things. Not as a substitute for the word of God, but as the vehicle by which it may be conveyed, and wherein it may be exactly fitted to the condition and requirements of the people and the period. Tracts, according to M. de Pressensé,

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ought to be narrations rather than dissertations, and adapted to diversities of epochs, circumstances, and men. We should never lose sight, in these popular compositions, of the connexion which exists between social life and the reli

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