contributed to swell the tide of Mariolatry, the error which lost half the lessons of Jewish history and of the life of Jesus, and threw Christendom back to the wilderness and the camel's hair for its pattern, instead of to the home at Nazareth-the error which peopled deserts with isolated atoms of humanity, and desecrated homes. Monasticism added another step to the throne of Mary; and the adoration of Mary the mother of God became absorbed in that of St Mary the Virgin. It is chiefly in this aspect that the early Latin hymns regard her-the pure vessel worthy of the great honour bestowed on it, meet, in her spotless purity, to be the gate through which life should enter the world, "the birth which becomes God." Yet throughout the Ambrosian hymns there is not one especially addressed to her; and if she received a homage no creature, unfallen or redeemed, could desire, less than any that lowly and most blessed handmaid of the Lord, still the homage was rendered for Jesus' sake. Steadily, however, that great idolatry advanced, gathering strength from the weaknesses of humanity, and from its virtues, its asceticism, and its tenderness. Little nourishment, indeed, could it by any ingenuity extract from the Bible, from the sorrowful search at Jerusalem, from the marriage feast at Cana, from the Cross-where the last agony could not extinguish the tenderness of Jesus, nor that surpassing tenderness draw from Him one word which might have misled His Church-from the benediction which merged even her blessedness as His mortal mother in the yet deeper blessedness of His purchased and espoused Church. The Bible had therefore to be laid aside; of all the incidents of Mary's life recorded there, scarcely one is touched on in these hymns except the birth of Jesus. Tradition wove a gorgeous robe for her, and dressed her life in a false history, from the immaculate conception to the glorious assumption into heaven; the true Mary, and her lowly and feminine life, are altogether hidden and instead of that pure and humble form, with her heavenly ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, a queen stands before us, arrayed in vulgar gold and earthly jewels, a goddess magnificent as any of old. Not, indeed, that the light of Christianity altogether ceased to shine even on that unchristian worship. Never was a purer or more beautiful ideal adored instead of God. All that was beneficent in man, tender and pure in woman, and gracious in God, was concentrated in Mary-mother, maiden, queen! No sorrow was too minute or too deep to be poured out on that gentle heart; no work was too mighty for the mother of God to accomplish by her commanding intercession. Pure as the angels, she had the pity of the mother for the fallen child. But beautiful as the image was, it was not divine and high as the example was, it was but one-sided,—it could not be complete as that of the Son of man. That perfect character, and that life of labour and service; that unflinching courage, untiring energy, and ever ready wisdom, beyond which no man could aspire; and that patient endurance and overflowing sympathy, deeper than the depths of any woman's heart, were replaced by an ideal which, pure, and lowly, and exalted as it was, could not be a model for men, and could be but a negative model for women. The love which could only pity was a weak substitute indeed for the love which had redeemed and would save. Of all the moral evils which were reflected back from this idolatry on the worshipper-the false estimate of woman, the false estimate of married life, and the false thoughts of God-enough cannot easily be said. Beside the worship of Mary grew monasticism and chivalry. A negative or a romantic moral

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ideal took the place of that perfect example which God has given and unfolded to us in the self-sacrificing love, the unwearying benevolence, and the pity unto death of His own beloved Son.

And, sadder even yet than this, all the tender and merciful graces of which Mary was looked on as the source and the type were abstracted from the portrait of Jesus, until gradually the infinite and tender pity of His countenance and His words were forgotten, and He stood before the awestricken conscience as the stern and avenging Judge. Further yet, all the love and grace were drawn down from the Trinity on the countenance of Mary; the love of the Father was forgotten in the tenderness of the mother, the redeeming sorrows of the Saviour were eclipsed by the sympathetic sorrows of the pierced heart of Mary, the consolations of the Comforter seemed cold beside the pity of Mary, consolation of the afflicted! Thus the relations of the Three Persons of the Godhead towards man were transferred to her. Mary was the mother, the saving intercessor, the true comforter; and, in proportion as the belief gained ground, the worship of the Trinity itself tended towards becoming merely another idolatry of three distant and divine beings, who had no distinct and near relationship to man, or had, at least, practically very little to do with him, but reigned on high thrones far up in heaven, to be worshipped on Sundays and certain holidays, whilst Mary received the first lisping prayer of the child, the morning and evening hymn, the cry of the distressed, and the thanksgiving of the rescued.

The deepest depth of this Mariolatry seems to be reached, when psalms and hymns written in honour of God are actually transferred to Mary. This was, unhappily, done with some of the psalms, and, in more than one version, with the "Te Deum."

Yet, melancholy as the profanity of this composition is, these isolated extravagancies are of little moment compared with the blasphemy against the love of God involved in the whole worship of Mary; for what was it, or, indeed, the whole system of a propitiatory human priesthood which grew up beside it, but a return to the old, bitter blasphemy of Eden, that God is reluctant to bestow blessings on His creatures ?—a blasphemy which even the cross failed to silence! This falsehood, rooted so deeply in the fallen nature of man, gathering strength from the heritage of sin to which it led, darkens many even of the best of the medieval hymns. The cross itself was shadowed by it, and seems to have been regarded too much as a costly purchase of a liberation from a severe Judge, rather than as the costly sacrifice made by the Father to save His perishing creatures. Thus the bodily torture of Calvary was dwelt on, rather than its redeeming love. Few, indeed, of these hymns rise to the full height of the gospel, and gaze with child-like confidence on the Father as the cheerful giver of all good gifts, the infinitely loving giver of the unspeakable gift; few fathom the depths of the parable of the prodigal son. Yet, although few of them rise to the conscious liberty of the redeemed, many soar unconsciously into the pure element of joy, only by gazing on the face of Jesus and many more fly with a trembling hope from the judgment throne to the cross, taking refuge from the Judge with himself safe, indeed, there! And how blessed to wake and find such a look on that face as the sinful woman who bathed His feet saw there, when He said, "Go in peace!" or the Magdalene at the sepulchre; or Peter in that untold interview after the resurrection, when none were present but Himself and the Lord he had denied, yet loved deeply as that Lord only knew!

With the apprehension of the love of God was lost the sense of His justice. Instead of the confident and most blessed assurance that God has provided a ransom for us, that His irrevocable law is satisfied, and His whole heart set on blessing man, crept in the faint hope that His justice might one day yield a little to His mercy, and that so a few might struggle into heaven.

It was precisely at this point that the mediation of Mary was presented, and was clung to with desperate tenacity. Of her motherly tenderness, it was thought, there could be no doubt, whatever might be entertained of the love of the Father or the grace of the Saviour. Thus, in many instances, the enemy's point was gained. Again fallen Adam fled from God, and, shrinking away too far to catch even an echo of the promises which pursued him, heard only the thunders of the law, saw only the flaming sword, and, fleeing further and further into the darkness, took refuge in a woman's pity, or, rather, in a shadowy vision of the night. For all the while, was not, and is not, her happy spirit in paradise with those of all the forgiven "spirits of the just made perfect," learning ever more and more of that tender, and life-giving love which the "exiled sons of Eve" were flying from, not to her peaceful spirit, but to her empty name! This superstition grew indeed but slowly to its full height. Century after century added some stones to that altar; and it was not until the latest ages that the form, once known only as the joyful mother with the infant Saviour in her arms, or the mournful mother weeping by the cross, was altogether dissociated from Him, and stood alone, as we now see it on the façade of Italian churches, a crowned queen, with her hands outstretched to bless, concentrating in her person all the glory of the Trinity above, and all the adoration of humanity below. Would, indeed, that this were only the picture of an obsolete religion, that these Marian hymns were only fossil specimens of an extinct idolatry! Luther struck at the root of this and all other superstitions when he proclaimed that God is revealed to us in the Bible, not as an exacter of vengeance, but as a Saviour and a forgiver of sins. And in proportion as we keep a firm grasp on this truth-which Luther said it is so easy to preach and so hard to hold when the enemy assails the soul with his old lie-shall we be kept from all gloomy parodies of the true religion, and enabled to walk in light and liberty. The only true message from heaven is the gospel, the only safe way is the way of peace. Nothing but the full conviction of this free love of God, giving "His Son," "Himself," for us, will ever make us faithful servants, contented sufferers, and cheerful givers. Nothing but this is the antidote to selfishness, and the secret of a life of communion with God. Nothing but this will make our prayers and praises what the services of the temple where the Son of God is the high priest should be; no longer the agonising cry of doubt, or solitary "spiritual exercises," or the complacent self-congratulations of the pharisee, but the submissive asking from a Father of blessings He delights to give, the joyful lifting up of hearts, whose praises, offered in Him who is their source and theme, are fragrant incense in heaven,

THE LIVERPOOL WILL CASE.-This case has been decided by Lord Penzance against the priests. It is said that this will be a loss to them of £20,000. Why should priests ever be allowed to make wills?

A

PROTESTANT CLASS IN DERBY.

VERY interesting meeting was held recently in Derby, to distribute the prizes to the class conducted there by Dr Legge. Francis Wright, Esq. of Osmaston, presided. Various friends addressed the meeting. The following interesting statement was read by the Rev. Henry Cheetham, whose kind services, along with those of Dr Ogle, have been chiefly instrumental in establishing this class. It is gratifying also to state that the prizes were contributed by local parties :—

"Convinced that there was a just occasion to offer instruction to professing Protestants on the distinctive differences of Protestantism and Romanism, of a character sufficiently serious to justify effort beyond and in excess of any that the regular ministry of the Church may afford, and encouraged by the success of Protestant classes in the metropolis, and in many provincial towns, the promoters of that which is to culminate to-night in a distribution of prizes, determined to organise a series of Protestant educational lectures in Derby, and most gladly availed themselves of the services of Mr Legge.

"The sanction of the clergy and ministers of all denominations, including that of the Venerable the Archdeacon of Derby, and of several influential laymen, was obtained, whilst the London organisation of the Scottish Reformation Society signified its willingness to guarantee any deficiency in the funds needed for giving effect to the effort.

"The lectures began on February 18, in the Penny Bank Room in Full Street; and were continued on each succeeding Friday evening up to the 25th of March inclusive. The attendance was counted on five nights out of the six, and on those nights exactly averaged 70 persons. On the first evening, as was naturally to be expected, the attendance was the largestexactly 100; but on no evening did it fall below 60 persons.

"The promoters have no hesitation in testifying to the gratifying attention and hearty spirit manifested in the class throughout the course, and which, they add with pleasure, they fully believe the character and quality of the lectures entirely warranted.

"The members of the class were recommended to purchase 'Standford's Handbook of the Romish Controversy,' which was sold to them at halfprice, of this work, seventy copies have been sold.

"The examination, by which it was proposed the lectures should be followed, took place on Friday evening, April 8, in the Curzon Street Schoolroom, when twenty-five persons, nineteen males and six females, competed for the prizes offered. The examination paper was set by Mr Legge, who also has kindly undertaken the labour of deciding upon the relative merits of the answers returned. Three hours were given for the examination, and it was a pleasing evidence of the interest taken in it by the candidates, that not a single one folded up his paper until the time had expired."

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N the Divine nature, both religion and philosophy have acknow

"I ledged goodness in perfection; wisdom or providence compre

hending all things; and absolute sovereignty or kingdom. In aspiring to the throne of power, angels transgressed and fell. In presuming to come within the oracle of knowledge, man transgressed and fell. But in pursuit toward the similitude of God's goodness or love, neither man nor spirit ever hath transgressed, or shall transgress. The devil, being an angel of light, affected power. Man, being endowed with power, affected light or knowledge. Intruding into God's secrets or mysteries, he was rewarded with a further removing or estranging from God's presence. But as to God's goodness, there is no danger in contend ing for, or advancing towards, a similitude thereof. In that point we can commit no excess."-Bacon.