hand beg for the repealing of the law, lest, through the scarcity of preachers, their souls should suffer a famine of the Word of the Lord. But the greatest hopes of the faction depended upon their friends at court; for they being admitted into the secret counsels of the king, and the highest offices of the state, did only clog and obstruct the public affairs; give a check to the laws that were made against the factions; appear as advocates for their faults; and make it their chief endeavour to prevent the Church and State from settling upon their old legal foundations."

Parker proceeds to shew how their endeavours to influence the king well nigh succeeded, and

"Obtained from him that the matter should be suspended for a little time; and therefore, whereas the law ought to be in force the next Sunday, they prevailed to have the council called but three days before, for the effecting their purpose, lest perhaps any one should unseasonably step in before the time to prevent their designs; which yet unexpectedly happened through the prudence and fortitude of one man, namely, that great prelate Gilbert Sheldon, then Bishop of London, afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury. For, the council being held, he came of his own accord (for he was not yet called to the privy council), and pleaded for the law with that sharpness of wit, that copious eloquence, and that weight of reason, that he did not so much persuade, as command, the assent of the king, the duke, the council, and all that were present, and almost the petitioners themselves, to his opinion. He told them that the suspension of the law came almost too late; that by the command of the law he had ejected all who had not obeyed it in his diocese the Sunday before, by which he had so provoked their anger and hatred, that if they were again restored, he should not live henceforward in a society of clergy, but in the jaws of his enemies; neither could he dare to contradict a law that was passed with so great approbation of all good men, so general a consent of Parliament, and with so much deliberation. And farther, that if at that time so sacred a law should be repealed, it would expose the lawgivers to the sport and scorn of the faction; and lastly, that the State and Church would never be free from disorders and disturbances if factious men could extort whatever they desired by their impudence and importunity. They that were present at the council being overcome by these and the like reasons, did with great alacrity and earnestness consent to the immediate execution of the law. Whence it happily came to pass, that whereas there was but one day to intervene between the change of counsel and the event of the matter, almost all the Presbyterians who feared no such thing, and on the contrary were joyfully secure, did on a sudden, almost in the twinkling of an eye, perceive themselves defeated by one stroke, and turned out of their parishes to their great surprise and astonishment."

Happy would it have been, had it been nothing worse than great surprise and astonishment. But continues Parker:

"By this seasonable interposition, the bishop freed the Church of England from these plagues for many years. For thus it happened luckily, happily, and prosperously, and indeed very providentially, that

the schismatics entangled themselves in their schism by covenant and agreement, entering into a new association, being deceived by the large promises of the London teachers, that they would not obey the law, and thence imagining that they should defend themselves by their multitude. And whereas the courtiers would have persuaded the king, that there would be preachers wanting in the city of London, upon that Sunday, the very prudent bishop of that diocese, who had computed the number of the faction, had ready at hand an equal number of orthodox divines, and those eloquent and learned, who, the sign given, did as it were come out of ambush and take possession of the pulpits. And though from that time the schismatics tried all their art that they might be received again into the bosom of the Church, yet he guarded every pass and avenue with such diligence, that when they saw their attempts so often baffled, they at length sat down, being no further troublesome with their schism, than barely that they were schismatics as long as he lived."

It is commonly reported that 2000 ministers were induced to resign their livings by the Act of Uniformity. This act has been most strongly condemned at home and abroad, by churchmen and by dissenters; but it is just possible that if it had been followed up by an edict of perfect toleration, we should have heard but little of it now. The sequences of this act were more questionable, more rigorous and severe than the Act itself. What they were, we cannot now find time to tell.

THREE PETITIONS TO KING PTOLEMY PHILOMETOR, FROM A MONK IN THE TEMPLE OF SERAPIS.

THERE is a MS. on papyrus in the British Museum, published in Boekh's Corpus Inscriptionum Græcarum, and a second in the Vatican, published in Cardinal Mai's Scriptores Classici, which seems to be a continuation of it. The two together contain three petitions to King Ptolemy Philometor, by a Greek priest living as a religious recluse in the temple of Serapis, near Memphis, and the proceedings taken thereon. They throw much valuable light on monastic life as it existed in Egypt, in the second century before the Christian era. One of the duties of our monk was to perform sacrifices on behalf of the king, and he puts before the king, as his claim for a favour, the length of time which he had lived as a recluse. His cell was in the temple of Astarte, which was a portion of the large temple of Serapis. He did not live there in comfort, for he was ill-treated by the other monks, who looked upon him with jealousy, because he was a Greek. The

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king grants him the favour asked for, which is that his young brother may be made an officer in the army. But though the request was granted by the king, it was not obtained to the monk's satisfaction. For the brother seems to have been sent away from Memphis, instead of being left there in garrison; and his pay, by which the monk hoped to profit, was also withheld from him.

The monk and his brother had been deserted by their father, in the time of the civil war between Philometor and Euergetes, and the invasion of Egypt by Antiochus, king of Syria, which had caused a sad disturbance to society.

of

Our word recluse, or one in confinement, which is borrowed from the Latin, is a translation of Káтoxos, the Greek name for these monks. In the hieroglyphics they are called the Ophtho, or persons dedicated. Their cells yet remain in some of the Egyptian temples, particularly in that of Philæ, where they are ranged round the court-yard. They are mentioned by Manetho, in his astrological poem;" and also by Servius in his Commentary on Virgil, who says that they entered on their solitary way life as boys, and that those who were dedicated to the god of the Nile were supposed to be living in retirement in caverns beneath the river. We know the statues of these men sitting on the ground in religious idleness, with the knees up to the chin, forming little more than a square block of stone with a head upon it. The only other class of priests mentioned in the petitions, are the shrine-bearers, whose statues we have in the position of kneeling on the ground, and holding before them the small model of a temple with the figure of a god on the front of it.

The first petition is dated in the year B.c. 157. The second and third petitions may have been written about two years afterwards; and the manuscript which contains a history of the whole proceeding was written before the death of the brothers, and therefore about the year B.c. 145.

To King Ptolemy, and Queen Cleopatra his sister, the motherloving gods [Philometores] greeting.

I, Ptolemy, the son of Glaucias, a Macedonian, being one of the settlers from the Heracleopolite nome, whereas my beforementioned father was one of the families that dwelt in the Heracleopolite nome; but changed his way of life in the time of the troubles, and deserted me and my younger brother, Apollonius; and whereas it has been my lot to be living as a

recluse in the great temple of Serapis, near Memphis, for fifteen years, and as I wish to obtain a command in the army for my aforesaid brother (because I am childless), whereby I, while living as a recluse, and he who is at large, may be able to live becomingly and may be helped.

I beseech you, the great mother-loving gods, having a regard to the above-stated number of years, whereby I have in no way whatever the necessaries of life, except this refuge under you, O, great gods and protectors, that I may obtain the command asked for for my brother, if it shall seem fit; and that you bestow upon me also the protection which you grant to all similar religious persons; that [this petition] be directed to the proper officer, and that my before-named brother be received into the cohort of Dexilaus, which has its quarters in Memphis, and that they should give to him whatever they themselves receive in corn and food; so that I may be able to live becomingly, and to perform the sacrifices on behalf of yourselves and your children; and may you rule over the whole country that the sun looks down upon for ever.

And if this is done, I shall, through you, have the means of living for the rest of my life. May you be happy.

Below is written, perhaps by the petitioner, but more probably by Apollonius, the brother :

I delivered this petition to the king and queen on the second day of the month of Thoth, in the twenty-fourth year of the reign.

The king seems then to have written the following words upon it, perhaps with his own hand, and set his seal to them as his signature:

Let it be done. Let it be carried to the proper office.
The secretary then further added:

It has been examined; let it be carried to the scribes.
Apollonius then continues his story:—

In the twenty-fourth year, in the month of Thoth, I delivered the petition to the king and queen. And I received it back from him and delivered it to Demetrius, after it had been sealed; and I received it back from Demetrius and from Ariston, and I carried it to the secretaries' office to Dioscorides the clerk, and then from Dioscorides to Chæremon, and from Chæremon to Apollodorus; and it made its return to the palace on the twenty-sixth [day of Choeac].

The following is the report which accompanied the petition back to the king from these several officers:

Seeing that a petition was presented to the king and queen by Ptolemy, the son of Glaucias, a Macedonian, by which it was

stated that he had lived in confinement in the great temple of Serapis, near Memphis, for fifteen years, and that he was worthy that his brother should be received into the cohort of Dexilaus, and they should give him whatever they themselves received; and seeing that the petition had been sealed in these words:"Let it be done, and let it be carried to the proper office;" it was returned in the year 24, on the twenty-sixth day of the month of Choac, that the settlers in Memphis were allowed each one hundred and fifty pieces of brass, and three Artabas of wheat, of which they received one Artaba of wheat, and for the rest one hundred pieces of brass for each Artaba; and that this had been allowed in the accounts of Dexilaus and Theon, to those to whom it belonged, and that the pay of one hundred pieces of brass had been given every year; and it was further added that therefore as it was allowed, there should be granted to him [Apollonius] one Artaba of wheat, and for the rest at the rate of one hundred pieces of brass for each Artaba.

Then was made a second order of the king, when he had seen this report, on the ninth day of the month of Tybi in the same year the twenty-fourth.

Let it be done as is right.

Upon this the king's secretary writes to Demetrius, as follows:

Let Apollonius, the Macedonian, be received into the cohort of Dexilaus, which is stationed at Memphis, and let there be given to him as much as the others receive, namely, one hundred and fifty pieces of brass, and three Artabas of wheat, of which wheat he is to have one Artaba, and a gratuity of one hundred pieces of brass for each of the rest. Dated in the year 24,

on the tenth day of the month of Tybi.

At the same time an order was sent to Dioscorides the clerk :— That he was to write to Sostratus, the scribe, telling him to follow out these orders, to point out to him [Apollonius] his place, and to explain to you how distribution should be made unto him regularly, by means of the substituted allowance.

Accordingly, Dioscorides writes to Sostratus:

We herewith send to Sostratus a copy of the report from the scribes, so that you may do according to the particulars given by the scribes.

"Seeing that a petition was presented to the king and queen by Ptolemy, the son of Glaucias, a Macedonian, by which it was stated that he had lived in confinement in the great temple of Serapis, near Memphis, for fifteen years, and that he was worthy that his brother should be received into the cohort of Dexilaus, and that they should give him whatever they themselves received;