THE CHARACTER OF OUR SAVIOUR

BY MR. BELSHAM.

The character of Jesus is perfectly original. It is unlike every thing which had ever appeared in the world. There had indeed been eminent persons who had assumed the office of instructors of mankind in religion and virtue. But Jesus differed widely from them all in the nature of his doctrine, in his mode of instruction, in his habits of life and manner of conversation, in the character which he assumed, in the diguity of his conduct, in the authority of his language, in the proofs which he exhibited of a divine commission, and in the mariner in which he left those proofs to make their proper impression upon the mind, without himself drawing the genuine conclusions.

He claimed to be the Messiah, the distinguished personage foretold by the prophets, and expected by the Jews. But the form which he assumed was totally different from that in which he was expected to appear; from that which an impostor would have worn, which all impostors did actually put on, and which the writer of a fictitious narrative would naturally have represented. He was expected to appear in all the splendour of a prince and a conqueror. He actually appeared under the form of a pauper and a servant.

The character which he thus assumed, so entirely new, so utterly unexpected, and in many respects so very offensive to his countryinen, he sustained with the most consummate propriety, The circumstances in which he was placed were numerous, various, and dissimilar to each other: some of them were very critical and difficult; nevertheless, upon all occasions he maintains the character of a prophet of God, of a teacher of truth and righteousness, with the most perfect consistency and dignity in no instance does he forget his situation: upon no occasion, in no emergency, however sudden or unexpect ed, under no provocation, however irritating, is he surprised or betrayed to say or to do any thing unworthy of himself, or unbecoming the sublime and sacred mission with which he was charged.

To support the consistency of a fictitious character through considerable work, even though the character is

drawn from common life, is a mark of no ordinary capacity and judgment. But to adhere from beginning to end to truth of delineation in a character perfectly original, in circumstances various and new, and especially where supernatural agency is introduced, is characteristic of genius of the highest order. Attempts to represent a perfect character have failed in the hands of the greatest masters. Defects are visible in the portraits of the philosopher and of the hero, notwithstanding the masterly pencilling and the exquisite colouring of Plato and Xenophon. But the obscure and illiterate evangelists have succeeded to perfection. Not one writer only, but four. Not in describing different characters, in which they would not have been liable to have interfered with each other, but in the representation of the same unblemished and extraordinary character; to which each has contributed something which the rest have omitted, and yet all are perfectly consistent and harmonious-the unity of character is invariably preserved.

Admit that this character actually existed, allow that there was such a person as Jesus of Nazareth, and that the historians describe nothing but what they saw and heard, and to which they were daily witnesses, and the wonder ceases; all is natural and easy; the narrators were honest and competent witnesses; and Jesus was a true prophet of the Most High.

Deny these facts, and the history of the evangelists instantly swells into a prodigy of genius-a sublime fiction of the imagination, which surpasses all the most celebrated productions of human wit. The illiterate Galileans eclipse all the renowned historians, philosophers, and poets of Greece and Rome. But who will affirm, or who could believe this, of these simple, artless, unaffected writers? It is incredible, it is impossible, that these plain and unlettered men should have invented so extraordinary, so highly-finished, a romance. Their nar

rative therefore must be true. The prophet of Nazareth is a real person, and his divine legation is undeniable. I know not how this argument may appear to others; but to me it carries the force, almost, of mathematical demonstration. I cannot conceive of a proof which can be more satisfactory to a candid, an intelligent, and a well-informed mind.

THE EXPENCES OF A WIFE

TO BE REGULATED BY THE INCOME OF HER HUSBAND,

THIS subject, so intimately connected with the interest of a thousand families, and so important to domestic peace, has been ably discussed by Judge Hale, and the salutary doctrines of that venerable and worthy man are confirmed by the respectable opinion of Lord Kenyou, to whose memory, as an able lawyer and a good chief justice, notwithstanding his heat of temper and inveterate party propensities, I would wish to pay a tribute of applause.

Indeed some declaratory recital of the law, on this subject, was become highly necessary to check the seducing and too often irresistible attacks of the silk-mercer on our pockets, through the medium of our affections.

Tradesmen of this class considering husbands only as creatures who are to pay for every thing; as passive animals, liable to every debt incurred by their wives without regard to fortune, propriety, or situation, think it fairly consistent with the spirit of traffic to tempt their fair but thoughtless customers to purchase every thing they like, and at any price.

But it has been clearly proved that such conduct is not only morally culpable, but contrary to the law of England, and the dictates of common sense; and it is soothing to a mind repining, perhaps irrationally repining, at the imperfection of human institutions, that, in the present instance, our courts of justice sympathise with the general feelings of mankind.

The wife of a respectable Leicestershire divine, whose name, for the sake of her family I suppress, was enticed by vanity, or the impression of bad example, to join the train and beat the rounds of dissipation, in its most fashionable abode.

A morning visit was made to one of those splendid exhibitions of female decoration, where the luxurious and the wealthy robe themselves in the trappings of superfluity, which are the proper ornaments of rank and affluence, but by which moderate fortunes are soon dissipated.

Bewitched by the equipages and dazzled by the coronets of some of her fair associates, the wife of a country clergyman, of moderate income, in a few weeks incurred a debt, amounting to more than one third of the

annual amount of the living which was to support her husband and family in the country.

The tradesman, whom I acquit of ill design, applied for payment, which was refused, and the matter, after the customary legal processes, was solemnly argued in the Court of King's Bench; the lady's friends having previously paid forty pounds into court, which was.considered as more than a reasonable and adequate expenditure for a person of her condition, during so short a time. The richness of satin, the breadth and the delicacy of lace, and the obsequious patient dexterity of a manmilliner, had no influence on the Judges, whose opinion was given in the following words, by the Chief Justice:

"This is a cause of great importance to the public, and, from the general influence its decision may produce, deserves particular consideration with the jury.

"If the plaintiff, in the present action, is permitted to recover the whole of his demand, I will venture to say, there is no man who may not be called on to answer for contracts which would ruin him.

"It is the law of England that the husband shall support his wife in a decent, becoming, proper, and, if you please, in a liberal manner; but, from certain mistakes and abuses of this law, it has become absolutely necessary that the question should be clearly understood, as it is impossible to suppose that it was designed as a license for extravagance, or to promote domestic profusion.

"This doctrine, I hope, will have some influence on tradesmen in general, who, in their eagerness for business, are too apt to invite an unlimited and indiscriminate credit, without regard to the circumstances or situation of their customers; and are often ruined, or put to great inconvenience, by the tardiness or non-payment of bills, which, with a considerate man, would never have been incurred.

"I am sorry that a respectable trader should be a loser; but when he carries his goods to market, he should carry prudence with them if you arerof-the same opinion, gentlemen, you will give a verdict for the defendant; but if I have mistaken the morality or convenience of the case, you will find for the plaintiff, and give the difference between the bill and the money paid into court."

The jury agreed with the judges in favour of the clergyman.

SINGULARITY OF MANNERS.

BY THE LATE REVEREND MR. GRAVES.

THERE are few people of such mortified pretensions, as patiently to acquiesce under the total neglect of mankind: nay, so ambitious are most men of distinction, that they choose to be taken notice of, even for their absurdities, rather than to be entirely overlooked and lost in obscurity; and, if they despair of exciting the atten❤ tion of the world, by any brilliant or useful accomplishment, they will endeavour to gain it by some ridiculous peculiarity in their dress, their equipage, or accoutre

ments.

Many persons may remember a little foreigner, (Des Caseaux, I think, was his name,) who appeared daily in the Mall, dressed in black, with a hat of an enormous diameter, and a long roll of paper in his hand. His picturesque appearance tempted some artists to make an etching of him, which was exhibited in every shop. I mention this gentleman, because his professed intention was, be said, "to attract the notice of the king, as he had done that of his subjects."

But we see daily instances of the same kind. One man sports a paradoxical walking-stick; another rises to fame by the shortness of his coat, or the length of his trowsers, or the multiplicity of capes on his shoulders, and the like efforts of genius and invention I remem ber a young divine some years ago, not otherwise eminent either for learning or ingenuity, who wore his own short hair, when every one else wore long wigs, “in imis tation," as he said, "of Gregory Naziauzen."

It would be cruel to deprive these gentlemen of their slender gratification in these harmless particulars; but when we assume any thing peculiar in our appearance, in order to disguise our real character; when we affect an uncommon sanctity and solemnity of countenance to impose upon the world; we then become more than ridi culous, and are highly immoral.

A Tartuffe indeed, or a pretender to extraordinary devotion, is not a prevailing character in this age; too many are in the contrary extreme; and, like Colonel VOL. IV.

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