human intellect as capable of indefinite expansion, and therefore as the ultimate judge of all Truth. I can only say, that from inquiries into the conditions of the human mind, I see no evidence which would lead me to any such conclusion. On the contrary, I meet with the most complete ignorance, the deepest perplexity as to facts of every-day experience. Philosophers argue and theorise, but what one sets up another pulls down; and when, in order to understand their systems, we go back to the definitions of the words they use, we find human reason brought face to face with contradictions which absolutely baffle it. I deny, therefore, the omniscience of Reason. I cannot be a Rationalist, or one who makes Reason the ultimate judge of Truth. Rather, guided by the testimony of Reason itself to its own insufficiency, while fully accepting its guidance as to the evidence of Divine Truth, I will accept it no farther. The question of external evidence is to me, therefore, of primary importance. At the first thought, you will be inclined to say it is so to everyone. But after-consideration will, I think, lead you to a different conclusion. If you were to inquire into the grounds of the scepticism of the day, you would find, I am convinced, that by far the larger portion may be traced to some foregone conclusion of human reason, some difficulty of comprehension, or some unwillingness to receive doctrines unacceptable to human nature. Reason has obtruded into the province of Faith, and the result is unbelief. The possibility of miracles is denied. Why? Because they are said to be impossible, as being violations of the laws of nature. No evidence for them is therefore to be accepted. But what are the laws of nature? Who knows their extent? Where was man when the Almighty 'laid the foundations of the earth?' Where was he when God 'shut up the sea with doors, and said, Hitherto shalt thou come and no further?' What does man know of the ordinances of heaven? Can he 'bind the sweet influences of the Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?' Can hebring forth Mazzaroth in his season, or guide Arcturus with his sons?' (Job, xxxviii. 31, 32.) Surely, it is the very folly of Reason to argue from the infinitesimally small portion of scientific knowledge which has been acquired by the study of centuries, to the possible acts of an Omnipotent God! Intellectual difficulties of this kind are no doubt insurmountable to those who hold them. If we say such a thing cannot be, because my Reason does not enable me to understand it, no external evidence will have any effect upon us. But the difficulty may be of our own creation. We may have made Reason a judge where it is no judge. And so also with regard to difficulties as to doctrines, such as the Atonement, or the extent and duration of future punishment;-there are, no doubt, moral perplexities involved in these subjects; but they stand distinct, apart from questions of external evidence. And in common fairness they ought not to be mixed up with them. It is impossible, indeed, to say how greatly our inquiries as to the evidences of Christianity would be simplified, if we would all candidly examine the workings of our own minds, and ask rather why we disbelieve than what. I fear, however, it is vain to hope for any such fairness in the generality of mankind. Mixed motives and feelings are to be found with us all more or less; only as we journey on, and find ourselves rapidly nearing the day which is to set our doubts at rest, the necessity must, it would seem, force itself upon us, of being ready with a reply to the question which, if revelation be true, may one day meet us at the Judgement Seat of God-Why we disbelieved. It is looking at the possibility of such a question awaiting us, that I have ventured to give you the grounds of my own conviction as to the separate and limited jurisdictions of Reason and Faith. If what I have said should in any degree have tended to render the subject more clear to you, I shall be very thankful. Believe me, ever sincerely yours, ELIZABETH M. SEWELL. Bonchurch, September 5th, 1871. HYMN TO BE SUNG AT HOME ON SUNDAY EVENING.* BEFORE the close of His holy day, A song to our Lord we fain would sing, And those who are near or far away, Whom our hearts love well, before Him bring: Those who on Sundays long gone by At the holy altar knelt by our side; Jesus, who givest to cheer Thine own Foretaste of bliss that will end the strife; Jesus, to whom all hearts are known, Whose are the issues of death and life! May be sung to the chant given for Hymn 145 in Hymns Ancient and Modern.' HYMN TO BE SUNG AT HOME ON SUNDAY EVENING. 427 Thine we are by the cleansing flood, O for their hearts that are sorely tried, Sick with the sins which Thy Church divide, Hear us for them, that Thy Spirit's balm Those who to-day have longed in vain Be turned to joy through the power of Thine. And if there be who once were true, And sang with us to Thy glory here- With fear for ourselves let us pray for them- Each time that we sing we are older grown, .' And the night, when none can work, draws near; But out of the darkness light shall be shewn, There, where no fear for the future can be, SKETCHES FROM HUNGARIAN HISTORY. BY THE AUTHOR OF 'COURAGE AND COWARDS;' ‘ivon,' &c. XIX. FIRST ENCOUNTERS WITH THE TURKS. A. D. 1387 TO A. d. 1396. SIGMUND was nineteen years old, when he found himself at last seated upon the Hungarian throne; but his elevation does not seem either to have strengthened his character, or to have diminished the strange restlessness of disposition, which, it may be, he inherited from his grandfather. The condition of his unfortunate queen, apparently, affected him in no very great degree; but, on being informed that she was certainly still alive in her prison, he induced Venice to send a fleet to besiege Novigrád by sea, while Gara, son of the late Palatine, led an army into Dalmatia, and succeeded in defeating the rebels and driving them from many of their strong-holds. Horváthy, being at last sore pressed on all sides, and seeing the hopelessness of attempting to hold out any longer, surrendered Novigrád to the commander of the Venetian fleet, after obtaining from Maria a promise that he should be allowed to retire unmolested into Bosnia. Great was Maria's gratitude to the Doge for her deliverance from her eight months captivity. In the letter of thanks which she wrote to him, she calls him her most faithful friend,' and promises never to forget what she owes him; and on hearing that De Monacis was about to write a poem on the events of which she had been the passive heroine, she bids him not forget to mention that it was by the assistance of the Venetians that she had obtained her release. Sigmund meantime, having allowed his wife to be freed from prison by foreigners, without having raised his own hand to strike one blow in her cause, now came to meet her at his leisure some three weeks after her restoration to liberty. From Agram, where the meeting of the royal pair took place, their progress to Buda was one long triumphal procession. High and low, rich and poor, came forth in all the towns and villages through which they passed, to greet their Queen, and to offer addresses of congratulation at her release. Still, however, the insurrection was far from being subdued. Many of the strong castles were yet in the hands of the rebels; and Twartko King of Bosnia, while he supported them, was likewise bent on improving to his own advantage the opportunity afforded by the distracted state of the country, to annex Dalmatia to his own dominions. The royal exchequer was very low, and what little money was forthcoming, Sigmund was obliged to pay away as interest on his numerous debts. The sale of Brandenburg, which he effected about this time, did indeed enable him to hire a few Bohemian troops, and to gain some temporary successes; but so long as the rebels found an easily accessible refuge in Bosnia, it was hardly possible either to exterminate them or to reduce them to a state of quiescence. For the time, however, public attention was diverted into another channel. The Princes of Bulgaria and Servia, whose allegiance to Hungary had long been wavering, had lately found it politic, or perhaps we should rather say necessary, to acknowledge the Sultan as their suzerain. In a sudden fit of repentance, however, they determined to throw off the Turkish yoke; and by the union of their forces, succeeded in inflicting a defeat upon the Infidels. Of course it was to be expected that the Turks would seek to revenge themselves for this humiliation, and in her hour of need Servia sought a reconciliation with Hungary. By the mediation of Gara, her advances were graciously received, and some troops were sent to her assistance. Twartko also, recognizing the fact that Servia alone stood between himself and the Sultan, and that her overthrow would be the signal for an attack upon his kingdom, laid aside his schemes of annexation, and hastened to the assistance of his neighbours. All these efforts, however, were in vain; for there was a traitor in the Servian camp, no less a person, indeed, than the Prince's son-in-law, George Brankovics, who betrayed the army into the hands of the Turks. The Sultan, who was present at the battle in person, received a death-wound, which did not prevent him, as he lay dying, from ordering the unfortunate Prince Lazar to be strangled before his eyes. His successor, Bajazet, after dividing Servia between Brankovics and the son of Lazar, departed for Constantinople, a circumstance of which Twartko availed himself to declare that the Turks had sustained a defeat; although, as a matter of fact, he had been obliged to acknowledge himself their vassal, and had consequently received permission to take Turkish soldiers into his pay-a somewhat doubtful privilege, but one of which he appears to have availed himself. All the sea-coast towns, but Zara, soon found themselves obliged to submit to Twartko; and Sigmund let them go, without an effort, for in truth he was more concerned about the defection of Moldavia and Wallachia, whose Vajdas were secretly renouncing the suzerainty of Hungary for that of Poland; possibly, because they felt that, in case they were attacked by the Turks, the latter country would be the more likely to afford them effectual assistance. The army, which Sigmund led against them in person, very quickly brought them back to their allegiance, though only temporarily; for Myrxa, the Vajda of Wallachia, soon after found himself compelled, by the nearer approach of the Turks, to do homage to the Sultan. Still Sigmund was not relieved from his fear of Poland, whose increasing prosperity made her, in his eyes, a formidable neighbour. Gallicia, which had since 1189 been a bone of contention between the two countries, was, as we have seen, demanded by the Poles as the marriage |