the goodnessof God towards them, and partly as a mean whereby to refresh those poor and needy, who being especially at these times. made partakers of relaxation and joy with others, do the more religious-ly bless God, whose great mercies were a cause thereof, and the more contentedly endure the burden of that hard estate wherein they continue. Rest is the end of all motion, and the last perfection of al. things that labour. Labours in us are journeys, and even in them which feel no weariness by any work, yet they are but ways whereby to come unto that which bringeth not happiness till it do bring rest For as long as any thing which we desire is unattained, we rest not. Let us not here take rest for idleness. They are idle, whom the painfulness of action causeth to avoid those labours whereunto both God and nature bindeth them; they rest, which either cease from their work when they have brought it unto perfection, or else give over a meaner labour, because a worthier and better is to be undertaken. God hath created nothing to be idle or ill employed. As therefore man doth consist of different and distinct parts, every part endued with manifold abilities, which all have their several ends and actions thereunto referred; so there is in this great variety of duties which belong to men that dependency and order, by means whereof the lower sustaining always the more excellent, and the higher perfecting the more base, they are in their times and seasons continued with most exquisite correspondence.-Hooker.

SUBMISSION TO CONSTITUTED AUTHORITIES.

Submit yourselves unto every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, whether it be to the king, as supreme; or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evil dores, and for the praise of them that do well.-1 PETER ii. 13, 14.

It is one of the falsest and yet one of the commonest prejudices, that the world hath always entertained against true religion, that it is an enemy to civil power and government. The adversaries of the Jews charged this fault upon their city, the then seat of the true worship of God-Ezra iv. 15. The Jews charged it upon the preachers of the Christian religion, Acts xvii. 7; as they pretended the same quarrel against Christ himself. And generally, the enemies of the Christians of primitive times, loaded them with the slander of rebellion and contempt of authority. Therefore our apostle, descending to particular rules of Christian life, by which it may be blameless, and silence calumny, begins with this,

not only as a thing of prime importance in itself, but as particularly fit for those he wrote to, being at once both Jews and Christians, for the clearing of themselves and their religion.

God hath indeed been more express in the officers and government of His own house-His Church; but civil societies He hath left at liberty, in the choosing and modelling of civil government, though always indeed over-ruling their choice and changes in that, by the secret hand of His wise and powerful providence. Yet He hath set them no particular rule touching the frame of it; only, the common rule of equity and justice ought to be regarded, both in the contriving and managing of government. Nevertheless, though it be some way defective in both, those that are subject to it, are in all things lawful to submit to its authority, whether supreme or subordinate; as we have it here expressly, whether to the king as supreme, (namely, to the emperor) or to the governors sent by him; which though a judicious interpreter refers to God, and will not admit of any other sense, yet it seems most suitable both to the words, and to the nature of the government of those provinces, to take that word To him, as relating to the king; for the expression, them that are sent, answers to the other, the king as supreme, and so is a very clear designation of the inferior governors of those times and places. And whatsoever was their end who sent them, and their carriage who were sent, that which the apostle adds, expresses the end for which they should be sent to govern, and at which they should aim in governing, as the true end of all government. And though they were not fully true to that end in their deportment, but possibly did many things unjustly, yet as God hath ordained authority for this end, there is always so much justice in the most depraved government, as renders it a public good, and therefore puts upon inferiors an obligation to obedience. * * But it is the corruption and misery of man's nature, that he doth not know, and can hardly be persuaded to learn, either how to command aright, or how to obey; and no doubt many of those that can see and blame the injustice of others in authority would be more guilty that way themselves, if they had the same power.

It is the pride and self-love of our nature, that begets disobedience in inferiors, and violence and injustice in superiors; that depraved humour which ties to every kind of government a propension to a particular disease; which makes royalty easily degenerate into tyranny, the government of nobles into faction, and popular government into confusion.

As civil authority, and subjection to it, are the institution of God; so the peaceable correspondence of these two, just government and due obedience, is the special gift of God's own hand, and a prime blessing to states and kingdoms; and the troubling and interruption of their course, is one of the highest public judgments by which the Lord punishes oftentimes the other sins both of rulers and people. And whatsoever be the cause, and on which side soever be the justice of the cause, it cannot be looked upon but as a heavy plague, and the fruit of many and great provocations, when kings and their people, who should be a mutual blessing and honour to each other, are turned into scourges one to another, or into a devouring fire; as it is in the parable-Judg. ix. 20-Fire going forth from Abimelech to devour the men of Shechem, and fire from Shechem to devour Abimelech.-Bishop Leighton.

ST JOHN'S CHURCH, FORFAR.

THE chancel of this Church, which is in the apsis form, and was without any light, has been recently opened up by a magnificent altar window, filled with handsome stained glass by the well-known Wailes of Newcastle, in his best style. The window is 13 feet by 7, and consists of three compartments, on which is depicted the scene of the Crucifixion, with the Virgin and S. John on either side, and the Magdalene clasping the foot of the cross. The top of the window being circular, the compartments are very judiciously filled with figures of angels veiling their faces and weeping over the awful spectacle. The back-ground is of deep azure, and studded with stars, in attestation of the divine dignity of the Sufferer. The design is beautiful, and the workmanship exquisite, both amply sustaining the high character of the artist. It was presented by Mr Guthrie of Guthrie, and at the base bears the following inscription:In honorem Dei et memoriam Joannis Guthrie de Guthrie, arm. qui obiit 12 Nov. 1845. Etatis suæ 82.

Atque in memoriam Annæ Douglas, conjugis ejus, quæ obiit 2 Dec. 1845. Etatis suæ 75.

Such a mode of commemorating the dead is well worthy of consideration, and affords an admirable example to others who are blessed by Providence with the requisite means. 'By connecting

the names of the dead,' says Mr Markland, in his 'Remarks on English Churches,' 'with works of piety, or with useful institutions, the objects of which may, in life, have been especially cherished by them,-surviving friends may be assured that they are most effectually reverencing the memories of those whom they lament, and causing them to be 'had in everlasting remembrance.' The memories of the dead thus become connected with the spiritnal and temporal advantages of the living. And for ourselves, we consider it the duty of Christians, not only to worship God, but, where they have the means, to provide that all things be done with such decency (ivxnóvas) and order, that they may worship Him in the beauty of holiness.

Ordinations.

On Wednesday, March 15th, the late lamented Bishop of Glasgow held an ordination in St James's Church, Leith, when Mr Andrew Horsburgh was admitted into the order of Deacons. The Very Reverend the Dean of the diocese preached an appropriate and able sermon on the occasion, from 1 Cor. iv. 1 and 2; and presented the candidate to the Bishop.

On Sunday, April 9th, the Right Reverend the Bishop of Brechin held an ordination at Dundee, when Mr David Gregg was admitted to the order of Deacons. The Rev. Torry Anderson preached an eloquent and appropriate sermon on the occasion, and the Church was filled with a crowded congregation who seemed to take the greatest interest in the solemn service of the day.

KIRRIEMUIR,-FEBRUARY, 1848.

BURIAL SERVICE. It is said that the Burial Service of the Episcopal Church has not been performed in the churchyard here for nearly a century at least, with a solitary exception which occurred a number of years since. The reading of the Service therefore in our Churchyard on Tuesday, at the interment of a member of this persuasion, attracted a vast body of people to the spot. Mr Wildman was attired in his surplice, and commenced repeating in a very clear and solemn manner the appropriate passages of Scripture as the funeral procession entered the Churchyard. The reading of the prayers and Scripture lessons suitable for the occasion, over the last resting-place of the deceased, had evidently a very solemnizing effect on the multitude of people who thronged around the grave. At the conclusion, the officiating clergyman gave an address explaining the ends and purposes of the Service, and intimated his intention to continue the practice in the same public manner prescribed by the Church on occasion of the funeral of any member of his own denomination, whose lives and conversation justified in so doing.

THE

SCOTTISH MAGAZINE,

AND

CHURCHMAN'S REVIEW.

JUNE 1848.

THE BURIAL OF THE DEAD IN SCOTLAND.

THE persecutions suffered by the Church of Scotland, during last century, led to many irregularities in the performance of her religious rites, but more especially of her occasional services. These irregularities, though contrary to her principles, gradually grew up into a traditional use, which has rendered some of the services almost useless, and greatly diminished the sacred significance of others.. For instance, the Sacrament of Baptism has been converted into a fashionable ceremony, to be performed, not in the Church, but in the drawing-room, immediately before dinner, Yet there is no reason for celebrating the Blessed Eucharist in the public congregation, which does not apply with equal, if not with greater force to the Sacrament of Regeneration. Again in the sacred rite of matrimony, its solemn vows, on the faithful performance of which the happiness of families so much depends, were more frequently taken in a publichouse, than in the consecrated house of God; and are to this day,

almost

invariably undertaken in private houses. These abuses at

first arose from necessity. After the destruction of her sacred buildings in 1746, the Church for a long period had no places of worship of any kind wherein to celebrate her sacred rites. The shade of a tree served as a covering, and a pool of water underneath it for a

font.

After she stealthily began to erect 'meeting-houses' to protect

her people from the rain during the celebration of her public worship, she was still under proscription, and consequently performed her Occasional services in the manner least likely to attract notice. This is the real cause of many of the irregularities which now exist in the

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