Iwith Christ in the days of His flesh were condemned before the Queen of Sheba because she came from far to hear the Wisdom of Solomon, shall not our condemnation exceed theirs, now that Christ has not only taught, but died and risen again to our knowledge, if we have no interest in examining the foundations upon which our faith is laid?

The Psalmist uttered the words I quoted at first, after gazing upon the fair proportions and dazzling beauty of the temple. When this was destroyed, and the second temple built, the shouting of joy was equalled by the weeping of those who had seen the glory of the former, because of its exceeding excellence; nevertheless, the promise was, that the glory of the latter should exceed the glory of the former. This came to pass when the true Light, which lighteth every man, entered into it; but that temple was likewise done away, according to the Word of Jesus, 'Seest thou these great buildings? there shall not be one stone upon another which shall not be thrown down.' Why? Because the seed wrapped up in that noble Vine had become a tree, and perfected its fruit, and was about to burst its shell, and scatter the seed into all lands, so that every plant that rises from it should be in the likeness of its Parent. Give heed to her doctrine, for every part, like the stones of a building, occupies its appropriate place, and not only furnishes the supplicant with words, but also contains a lesson by which he is instructed how to address his Maker.

In the first place, there is a time for silence and a time for sound (Eccles. iii. 7;) and every sound has its own peculiar signification. (1 Cor. xiv. 7-11.) It was a law of God to Israel, that when the congregation were to be assembled, trumpets must be blown, that all Israel might hear, and gather themselves together, to hearken to the Word. It was always a law that when the High Priest went into the Holiest to make atonement for the people,

he must have bells upon his garment, to assure them that he could appear in the presence of God and live. The Church does therefore cause the bells to be rung that the attention may be drawn to inquire the occasion of so joyful a sound, and receive for answer, 'Our Great High Priest, who has passed into the heavens, is about to plead our cause, and inspires His Bride to proclaim, "Glory to God in the Highest, on earth peace, good-will towards men." "He rose from the dead by the Spirit of Holiness, and ever liveth to make intercession for us." He has led captivity captive, and received gifts for men, yea, even for His enemies, that the Lord God might dwell among them.

THE SENTENCES.

On first entering, we are reminded that we must draw near with reverence, for we are approaching the Body of Christ, for each sentence puts back presumption, and seems to say, 'Keep thy foot when thou comest to the House of God, and be more ready to hear than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they consider not that they do evil.' We will select one of them as an instance of the lesson of repentance conveyed in each. 'If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us; but if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.' (1 John, i. 8, 9.) Here we learn that if we are not sensible of the guiltiness of sin, the way of truth is hidden from us, and a deceived heart is turning us aside; but if we feel the burden to be intolerable, greater than we are able to bear, and confess this, He is faithful, that is, He has said, and therefore he will do it; and just, that is, He has already punished His well-beloved Son-it would, consequently, be an act of injustice to punish two for the fault of one. You will perhaps understand the nature of this transfer better if I refer you to the legal type, Lev. iii. 4. When a Jew came to offer sacrifice he

brought his offering to the priest, and placing his hands upon its head, he confessed his sins over it; he gave them to the innocent animal, which was then accounted the offender, and slain in his stead. There were times appointed for the people to come, as there are times appointed for us to come, to confession. If we pause to consider the spectacle presented to the multitude, of the fruit of their confession in such a merciless slaughter, surely we must suppose that some compunction of heart was excited on account of their sin. Such a harrowing of the feelings is not required from us; but we are called upon to exercise our faith and contemplate the offering up of Jesus Christ once for all; and as those few loaves expanded by His power to suffice the multitude in the wilderness, so does the virtue of His One Bloodshedding find its way to cleanse the confessor of every single stain.

That awful type was only a shadow of good things to come; the Body is Christ, who by one offering has perfected for ever them that are sanctified. It was not the blood of bulls, nor of goats, nor the ashes of an heifer, that day by day acquitted everyone that came; but the death unto sin which was wrought by Christ, and the power of His resurrection, to give life, so that for every transgression of a chosen child, the Holy Ghost makes intercession with groanings that cannot be uttered. And on the Sabbath-day, when God has covenanted to meet and bless us, what a work is wrought on our behalf in the Kingdom of Heaven, when the whole assembly plead His Blood as their only and all-sufficient hope! If the confession of sin produces such movement in the Kingdom of Heaven, and has such mighty effect upon him who makes it, that his sins are pardoned and his soul cleansed, what must be accumulating upon his head who spends his existence without confession, without a thought of the end of his deeds? Each sentence, then, calls us to a sense of our

sin, lest, like the Pharisee, we should enter puffed up with self-deceit, leading our conscience to awaken, that in heart as well as with mouth, we may cry, 'God be merciful to me a sinner.'

(To be continued.)

CAMEOS FROM ENGLISH HISTORY.

CAMEO XXVI.—THE REBELLIOUS EAGLETS.

'THE gods are just, and of our pleasant sins make whips to scourge us.' This saying tells the history of the reign of Henry of the Court Mantle.

Ambition and ill faith were the crimes of Henry from his youth upwards, and he was a man of sufficiently warm affections to suffer severely from the retribution they brought on him, when, through his children, they recoiled upon his head. 'When once he loveth, scarcely will he ever hate; when once he hateth, scarcely ever receiveth he into grace'-was written of him by his tutor, Peter of Blois, and his life proved that it was a true estimate of his character.

The root of his misfortunes may be traced to his ambitious marriage with Eleanor of Aquitaine, twelve years older than himself, and divorced by Louis VII. of France on account of her flagrant misconduct in Palestine, in the course of the miserable expedition, called the Second Crusade. For her broad lands, he deserted the woman whom he loved, and who had left her home and duty for his sake, and on his promise of marriage.

Fair Rosamond Clifford was the daughter of a Herefordshire baron, with whom Henry became acquainted in his seventeenth year, when he came to England in 1149 to dispute the crown with Stephen. He lodged her at Woodstock, in the tower built, according to ballad lore, 'most curiously of stone and timber strong,' and with such a labyrinth leading to it that 'none, but with a clue

of thread, could enter in or out.' There Rosamona remained while he returned to France, to receive Normandy and Anjou on the death of his father, and on going to pay homage to Louis VII., ingratiated himself with Queen Eleanor, whose divorce was then impending. Eleanor and her sister Petronella were joint heiresses of the great duchy of Aquitaine, their father having died on pilgrimage to the shrine of Santiago de Compostella, and the desire of the fairest and wealthiest provinces of the south of France led the young prince to forget his ties to Rosamond, and her infant son William, and never take into consideration what the woman must be, of whom her present husband was resolved to rid himself at the risk of seeing half his kingdom in the hands of his most formidable enemy.

For some time Rosamond seems to have been kept in ignorance of Henry's unfaithfulness, but in 1152, the year of his coronation, and of the birth of her second child, Geoffrey, she quitted Woodstock, and retired into the nunnery of Godstow, which the king richly endowed. It has been one of the favourite legends of English history that the queen traced her out in her retreat by a ball of silk that had entangled itself in Henry's spurs, and that she offered her the choice of death by the dagger, or by poison, but this tale has been often refuted by sober proof; there is no reason to believe that Eleanor was a murderess, and it is certain that Rosamond, on learning how she had been deceived, took refuge in the nunnery, where she ended her days twenty years after, in penitence and peace, far happier than her betrayer. Her sons, William and Geoffrey, were honourably brought up, and her remains were placed in the choir, under a silken canopy, with tapers burning round, while the Sisters of the convent prayed for mercy on her soul and King Henry's. Even King John paid the costs of this supposed expiation; but St. Hugh, Bishop of Lincoln, not