toilette and wardrobe, her situation is no sinecure. Seldom does her mistress walk abroad, without sending her first into the street to judge if it is windy or cold, or likely to continue fine and dry. However clean the street may be, the lady always crosses it on tip toe, and always calls a cab from the nearest stand if the clouds threaten rain. MINISTRY OF ANGELS. no ALTHOUGH angelic ministry is longer openly continued, we are nevertheless taught to believe that it exists, and that many of the blessings that fall upon our daily path are shed from hands which have been lifted amidst the choirs of heaven in holy adoration to the God of all principalities and powers. As Christians, ye are come to this "innumerable company of angels;" ye are united to them by a bond which binds together every member of the happy family of God; ye are blended with them into one vast and harmonious society. The discordance necessarily subsisting between these pure spirits and the sinful inhabitants of a fallen world is destroyed. Clothed in the merits, and washed in the blood of the Redeemer, you no longer present to them that impurity with which their holy nature could hold no alliance. They perceive, in the redeemed of the Lord, hearts blotted in Rarely does the sun shine on her fair face, for her veil or parasol intercepts his rays, if she is out in warm weather. Keen winds never chill her delicate form, for she remains within when the air is not mild and balmy, and her wellcarpeted apartments are kept luxuriously warm in winterly weather. Her clothing is elegant and costly, and, though she eats and drinks moderately, what she partakes of must be the best of its kind. In short, while Frank Felt seems to think little of comfort, her whole care seems to be exercised in search of it, in the gratification of display, and in avoiding every petty annoy-deed by much imperfection, but yet impelled by the same principles, hopes, tastes, and affections as their own. Your song is at least the faint echo of theirs. Your Father is in every sense of the word their Father; your God is their God. Touched by these considerations, although once they watched at the gate of the earthly paradise to prevent our entrance, now they bend from the golden walls of the heavenly city, to invite you to a participation in joys, of which they alone, of all created beings, know the fulness, the intenseness, and the perpetuity.— Rev. J. W. Cunningham. ance. There are two methods of escaping danger, one is to meet and conquer your enemy, the other is to keep out of harm's way. There are two modes of escaping annoyances; one is to grasp the nettles, and the other to avoid the places where they grow. "Tender handed touch a nettle, And it stings you for your pains; Frank who has little, and the lady who has comparatively much, follow different courses. Which, then, has the advantage, the sturdy oak, or the hothouse plant? The protected flower, or the exposed tree? Frank is courageous, | the lady is fearful. Frank is contented, his lodger is dissatisfied. Frank is continually cheerful, and she is almost always low-spirited. From the whole, then, we gather another illustration of the common-place fact, that comforts will not of themselves make us happy, nor the want of them of necessity render us miserable; but that a grateful heart, looking around with thankfulness, and upwards with confidence, will make the crooked path straight, the rough place plain, and the wilderness to blos som as the rose. G. SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. LEARN to know things as God knoweth them. He, to exercise the wisdom that he hath given to man, has planted a difference in the creatures, and hath given a faculty to man to know and make a right choice in those differences: and man then knows things aright when he knows them as God knows them; and then he makes a right choice when he chooses as God chooses. Now, God knows that riches are but little things, and that credit in the world is but a shadow, and that honours in high places are but like leaves on the top of a tree; and who would climb a tree to fetch down a leaf? But God knows that pardon of sin is a choice rarity. LEITH, a seaport town, is situated on the banks of the river Leith, at its confluence with the Firth of Forth. It is connected with the city of Edinburgh, which is about two miles distant, by a broad street called Leith Walk. A close connexion having been established from a remote period between Edinburgh and Leith, by means of the charters granted to the former city, the revenues of Leith, including the fort dues, and the imposts within the burgh, still form part of the revenue of Edinburgh. There are two commodious dry docks for the repairing and building of ships, and two wet docks, each of which is 300 feet wide, and between 700 and 800 feet long, and of sufficient depth to admit vessels of from 200 to 250 tons burthen. They are surrounded by well-constructed FEBRUARY, 1846. quays, upon which are erected appropriate warehouses for the reception of merchandise. The depth of water in the harbour during neap tides is about ten feet, and during spring tides about six teen feet. SKETCHES OF THE WALDENSES. In the present day, when a working man may easily obtain a complete copy of the Scriptures at the cost of half a day's wages, an idea can hardly be formed of the value of books before the discovery of the art of printing, when the few copies of the Bible which existed were manuscripts, and exceedingly rare. Some of these articles still exist, though in an imperfect state, in the public libraries of Milan and Turin, where they are kept as curiosities. One of them, a copy of the E Four Gospels, is said to have been writ- The manuscript copies of the Scriptures were diligently studied and committed to memory by the Waldenses of old; and the method which the teachers frequently used for imparting the truth to those persons around them who belonged to the higher ranks of life is well known, but it must not be omitted here. They seem to have carried with them a box of trinkets or articles for sale, something like pedlars or hawkers in the present day, and to have used this as a means of introducing themselves, saying, "Sir, will you please to buy any rings, or seals, or trinkets? Madam, will you look at some handkerchiefs, or pieces of needle- | work for veils? I can afford them cheap." If asked, "Have you anything more?" the answer would be, "Oh, yes, I have commodities far more valuable than these, and I will make you a present of them, if you will protect me from the clergy." | Security being promised, the stranger would proceed: "This inestimable jewel is the word of God, by which he communicates his mind to men. 'In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth;' "and thus, without assuming to expound or to set forth his opinions, he would repeat whole passages from Scripture in their own sacred simplicity; perhaps the remaining part of Luke i., or the last discourse of Jesus with his disciples, John xiii.-xvii. If the company appeared interested, he would then recite Matt. xxiii., perhaps pointing out how the characteristics of the ancient scribes and Pharisees would apply to the monks and ruling ecclesiastics in those times. No doubt a blessing rested on these seemingly circuitous efforts to do good. 66 But it was not only those who professed to be teachers who were expected to search the Scriptures. It was said by one of their enemies, They instruct even little girls in the Gospels and Epistles, that they may be brought to embrace their doctrines, even from childhood." The same author asserts: "All, without exception, men and women, small and great, cease not day and night to receive and to give instruction. The labourer who toils during the day, either learns or teaches at night. They learn and instruct without books. If any one would excuse himself, they say to him, 'Only learn one word every day, and at the end of the year you will know three hundred, and so make progress.' I have heard one of these poor peasants repeat the whole book of Job by heart, without missing a single word; and there are others who have the whole of the New Testament at their fingers' ends. Nor will they listen to anything else, saying that all sermons which are not proved by the Scriptures are unworthy of belief." Faber has noticed and refuted a variety of calumnies which were circulated against the Waldenses in the middle ages: indeed, they contain sufficient internal evidence of their falsehood. The charges of sorcery and unnatural crimes are confuted by the genuine writings, holy lives, and patient firmness of these believers. The colporteurs of tracts and Bibles in the present day are sometimes falsely accused of selling immoral works: the primitive Christians suffered in like manner from the slanders of their persecutors. In later times, even Romish inquisitors give a more correct picture of the churches in the valleys, and unite in showing that," their heresy excepted, they generally lead a purer life than other Christians.' It would be easy to multiply quotations from their writings, which expose the errors of popery, and sufficiently account for the enmity of its deluded votaries. Thus it may be seen that the churches in the north of Italy, Heb. xiii. 24, early testified against the doctrines of Rome. To use the words of the poet :— "But whence came they, who for the Saviour Lord Where that pure church survives, though summer heats Open a passage to the Romish sword, Far as it dares to follow. Herbs self-sown, And fruitage gathered from the chestnut wood, Nourish the sufferers then, and mists that brood O'er chasms with new fallen obstacles bestrown, Protect them, and the eternal snow that daunts Aliens, is God's good winter for their haunts." Peter Waldo, or Valdo, it is now clearly proved, was not the founder of the Waldensian church; but probably he learned the truth from some of its members. His name, however, seems to have come from the German word, Wald, which signifies a wood or forest. He was born in the twelfth century, and to him Europe is indebted for the first translation of the Scriptures into a modern language, namely, the provincial French; a matter of unspeakable importance, for Latin had then ceased to be used in common life. Waldo was a wealthy merchant of Lyons; he appears to have been seriously impressed by the sudden death of one of his friends, with whom he was conversing after supper. From this time he laboured earnestly to promote the spiritual interests of those around him. Being called to account by John de Beles Mayons, the archbishop of Lyons, he replied that, though a layman, he could not be silent where the eternal salvation of men was concerned. The archbishop sought to apprehend him; but his character was so generally respected, that he continued in Lyons for three years after. A more severe persecution then arose, directed by pope Alexander III. The disciples of Waldo were scattered, and many of them, very probably, joined the Waldenses, though it does not appear that he himself ever visited their valleys. He retired into Dauphiny, but afterwards fled into Germany, and finally to Bohemia, where he died about the year 1179. These successive removals were made instrumental to the dispersion of the truth; for in all these regions numbers appear to have suffered as martyrs, (80,000 are reckoned in Bohemia alone during the fourteenth century,) and numerous churches are mentioned as having existed in Bulgaria, Dalmatia, Hungary, and elsewhere; those very places in which the light of the gospel is now little known. Even England may have derived some benefit from these continental churches, at a time when a part of France was subject to our kings. A Romish writer considers that from them Wickliffe learned his opinions. Probably the society in that district, who were commonly called the poor men of Lyons, might acknowledge Waldo as their founder. This famous city has long been celebrated for the wealth of its merchants, and also for its fine situation; but it must be observed, that the scenery of France, however diversified by mountains and rivers, however rich and fertile in its productions, wants the agreeable variation of enclosures and sheltered spots, with the numerous mansions, villas, and cottages, which give beauty to an English landscape; the "cottage homes" and "palace homes" of England, so often alluded to by poets, and differing widely from the towering castles and humble cabins which are seen abroad. To the Christian, under all circumstances, Lyons will offer many interesting recollections, as the residence of many of the early martyrs of persecution under the Roman emperors, when tortures the most painful to flesh and blood were endured by those of both sexes who fearlessly avowed, "I am a Christian, and no evil is committed among us.' Lyons was then called Lugdunum; it is favourably situated for trade with Smyrna and the East, from whence probably the gospel was first brought there. It is said to have been built forty years before the birth of Christ. We may now notice that on the French, as well as on the Italian side of the Alps, there seems always to have been a remnant of scriptural Christians. Here the persecutions of later times scarcely succeeded in rooting out a race of Protestants; and the recent labours of Oberlin and Neff have resulted in a happy revival of religion. In Dormilleuse, where the latter preached, it is recorded that the inhabitants have never embraced the Romish faith, have never bowed the knee to idols. This hamlet stands on a rock which is almost inaccessible, even in the finest season of the year; while in winter the ascent is doubly hazardous from the accumulation of ice in its narrowest part, where it is watered by a cascade. These valleys are, however, different from those of Piedmont in their general aspect, to which the words of Moses may be applied: "A land of wheat and barley, of vines, and fig-trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey." The latter, as a traveller says, form a garden, with deserts, as it were, in view: some parts are barren and repulsive, but these are exceptions. On the contrary, in the retreats of the French Protestants, fertility is the exception, barrenness the common aspect. Nothing will grow there but corn, and that only in small quantities. There the tot tering cliffs, the sombre and frowning rocks, which, from their fatiguing continuity, look like a mournful veil which is never to be raised, and the tremendous abysses, and the comfortless cottages, amidst the ever-present dangers from avalanches, and thick mists and clouds, proclaim that this is a land which | man never would have chosen, even for his hiding-place, unless from the strictest necessity. These mountain fastnesses are said to have furnished a retreat to a Gallic chief, called king Cottius, when pursued by the Romans, and from him they are denominated the Cottian Alps. From the wild spot called Val Freissinière the word of God "sounded out" to the neighbouring lands. The lives of its inhabitants were consistent with their profession as Christians. Their simple habits and general character are described by De Thou, a monkish author, in these terms:-"They are clothed in sheepskins, and have no linen in use, either for their garments or beds. Of the seven villages which they inhabit, the houses are built of rough stone, with flat roofs, and cemented with mud. In these hovels the people and their cattle live together; and when they apprehend an attack from their enemies, they often take refuge in caves, in one corner of which they lie concealed themselves, and secure their cattle in the other. They subsist chiefly on milk and venison, and pass their days in tending their cattle. They are skilful marksmen, and seldom miss either the chamois or the bear. Happy in these their scanty resources, they are all equally poor; but they have no mendicants among them, and, contented among themselves, very seldom form either friendships or connexions with others. In all this state of squalid misery and uncouth appearance, it is surprising that these people are far from being uncultivated in their morals. They almost all understand Latin, and are able to express themselves very legibly in writing. They understand also as much of French as enables them to read their Bibles in that language, and to sing psalms; nor would you easily find a boy among them who, if he were questioned as to the religious opinions which they hold in common with the Waldenses, would not be able to give from memory a reasonable account of them. They pay taxes most scrupulously, and the duty of doing this forms an article of their confession of faith. If they are prevented from making payment, by civil wars, they lay apart the proper sum, and, on the return of peace, take care to settle with the king's tax-gatherers." The Albigenses and Waldenses, and indeed all the societies of real Christians mentioned in connexion with this period of history, appear to have closely resembled each other, being shoots from the same stock, planted by the labours of their missionaries, as Peyran, one of their descendants, has expressed it, in his celebrated" Defence of the Waldenses." Many interesting facts might have occurred in connexion with their common every-day lives and conversations with their neighbours; but the setting forth of the gospel, whether by stated pastors, or by the private examples of Christians, is a fact too little noticed by general writers. Yet the light shining in darkness could not be entirely hid. It is plain, from the testimonies of adversaries, that the Waldenses were a race "Who kept the truth so pure of old, When all our fathers worshipp'd stocks and stones." The particulars of their histories would give details more worthy of record than the wanderings of minstrels, or the studies of the monks of the middle ages. The well-known description of an English peasant, as "Yon cottager who weaves at her own door," etc., might be applied to the Christians of the valleys, contrasted with their contemporaries, the Troubadours and others, whose writings have been objects of curiosity. "O happy peasant! O unhappy bard! His the mere tinsel, hers the rich reward; It is painful, indeed, to observe the slighting manner in which these believers are alluded to by Bernard and other writers of that age, who possessed true piety, though tinctured with much superstition. They speak of them as heretics, and also as weavers in the neighbourhood of Cologne and elsewhere, of blameless and pious character, but rustic and illiterate. They were called Cathari, a name corresponding to the term of Puritans; and, like that, it became an appellation of derision, instead of commendation. |