almost naked and famishing about the streets, in the eastern part of the metropolis, during the bitter nights of that winter, or crowded together at the grated window of a glass-house, endeavouring to procure warmth; whilst others found a wretched shelter in uninhabited houses or ruins. That this is no exaggerated account is but too well known to the magistrates and police officers of that day.

"The benevolent individuals above-mentioned endeavoured at once to meet this deplorable state of things. They immediately set on foot a subscription amongst their friends, and hired an old warehouse, which happened to be then vacant, in Dock-street, in which they commenced their plan in the humblest style. At first they could only offer the shelter of the roof, giving to each applicant a very small sum to procure him bread; but, by degrees, the building obtained an appearance of comfort and cleanliness, was furnished below, with a stove, cooking apparatus, and benches; and above, in the loft, with a quantity of clean straw and old canvass, which made bedding for the inmates.

"At five in the morning, to use our professional jargon, the hands were turned up, and they received a comfortable breakfast of hot porridge, or bergue, as it is called, with biscuit; then a portion of the morning service of the Church and two chapters of the Scriptures were read to them; after which they were sent out to endeavour to obtain employment, either by getting into a merchant-vessel, or by working in the docks, or other parts of the banks of the river. They generally continued absent during the day, unless driven in by wet weather, and at six in the evening again mustered, and received a good substantial hot supper, consisting of soup, beef, and biscuit; at seven, a Minister of the Gospel came, performed divine service, and addressed them in an appropriate discourse; after which they retired to their homely, but, to them, most comfortable bed. An extra meal on Sunday was given to them between churches.

"No swearing or improper language was tolerated, and the pain of expulsion enforced against those who were guilty; nor could the offender be received again until he renewed his claim by another voyage to sea and another relapse into misery. It was delightful to witness the harmony and peaceful enjoyment experienced here by these destitute sailors, with as much cleanliness as their forlorn state would admit of; and as one of the most active managers of this truly noble undertaking most strikingly observed, there appeared to be a feeling of seriousness, though not of uncheerfulness among the men, while within the walls of the asylum, that shewed the effect which an habitual recognition of the presence of God has upon the minds even of those who have lived long without Him in the world.'

"Thus much, as regards the destitute seaman; but the benefit of the institution does not stop with him; it is materially felt throughout our maritime service, to which it has returned many an useful member, who would otherwise have been lost to it and to the country.

Amongst the evils to which the seafaring man is exposed, that of crimping stands very prominent: it is carried on to a most abominable extent, not only in London but in all our sea-ports, and by the most iniquitous means. It is hardly necessary to explain, that a c imp is a

man who engages to furnish crews to merchant vessels fitting out for a

voyage.

"There are men to whom the seaman may safely apply when he wants employment; but the crimp is one who seeks for him, who follows, or perhaps leads him into all the haunts of dissipation and vice, to intoxication, extravagance, and consequent distress, for the very purpose of making him a marketable commodity, and keeping him in bondage till he can dispose of him to advantage. The crimps are paid for manning a ship in the East India Company's service, in sums varying from 50l. to 200l., according to circumstances; his principal gain, however, arises from the extortion he practises upon his victim. But it is not only the extortion which the sailor experiences at the hand of the crimp, that is to be deplored and guarded against: he is frequently led by him to conduct involving the most disastrous consequences to his whole future life. I allude, particularly, to desertion from the Navy. "The truly benevolent founders of the Destitute Sailor's Asylum conceived the happy idea, that it might not only be possible to relieve distress when found to exist, but to prevent its occurrence, in a great measure, by providing a home for the sailor, to which he might resort after his voyage, deposit his wages, his chest, and bedding, and, having all his wants supplied at a moderate expense, be enabled to wait for future employment, and kept out of the clutches of those who are leagued for his destruction, and who make their living by it.

"On entering the Sailor's Home, the applicant for admission finds a savings bank, in which he may at once deposit his money in safety, and in legal security, from whence he may draw it out at pleasure, on giving the due notice.

"Each inmate of the institution has a comfortable bed-room to himself, and a place where he may deposit his property in safety-has four meals a day, good in quality, and abundant in quantity-he pays 14s. for one week's board and lodging, or 2s., by the day, for any less time. The day begins and is ended in prayer, at which all who are in the house are expected to attend, and have generally done so with the utmost cheerfulness. As little restraint as possible is imposed upon them; cleanliness, sobriety, and morality, are expected and enforced as far as may be; the health of the people attended to; and if any are in want of medical assistance it is procured for them, or should they be seriously ill, they are sent to the Dreadnought hospitalship."

We trust that this invaluable institution will continue to meet

with the support which it so largely deserves.* We have no hesitation in saying, that by this vast maritime empire, the wel

It is now in contemplation to build a new church, chiefly for sailors, in the immediate neighbourhood of the institution. The Bishop of London has expressed himself highly favourable to the erection; and the only stoppage appears to be the expense of obtaining ground. There are highly suitable sites obtainable in the immediate neighbourhood of Well-street, and we certainly think that the dock companies ought to come forward in liberal support of the undertaking.

fare of her sailors, both temporal and spiritual, ought never to be received in any other light than that of an object of the highest national import. And we have equally little fear of contradiction when we affirm, that this admirable institution is the very one of all others to promote that object to carry out, to the fullest extent, the illustrious benefits which we are entitled to believe will be the result of its labours. The names of Captains Elliot and Pierce, and of Sir William Dunbar, the Chaplain, are of themselves sufficient guarantee for the character of the superintendence which is there exercised over our seamen ; and we sincerely wish these devoted and excellent individuals God speed in their high and holy work. We are about to erect a column to the memory of the greatest naval hero the world ever saw, and right well it is that we should build such a monument to his fame; but could the spirit of the departed warrior be permitted to revisit the scenes of time, it would be near such an edifice as this that it would most love to hover, as the spot where seamen may be taught both how to live and how to die.

We often hear of those who have fallen in the arms of victory, and who, lulled in glory's lap to rest, have slept peacefully beneath the sod; whilst a grateful country, which they gave their lives to defend, has gathered their ashes into marble urns, and enrolled their names with the illustrious dead. And those names have been borne on the tongue of posterity, familiar as household words; and painting has blazoned their triumphs; and sculpture has fixed them in the living rock; and poetry has decked them with the lustre, and crowned them with the halo of song. And we love the memory of the departed brave, and we move with more slow and measured tread as we approach their tombs, and we bless the sod that forms the warrior's pillow, and enshrine in our hearts the names of the sepultured mighty. But while we thus pay a due tribute to those who sleep the warrior's sleep, and honour the brave who shed their blood for their country, whether by land or sea, still must we never cease to remember that the rest of the departed soldier of the cross is a yet more illustrious thing-that he is the true hero who sleeps in the arms of victory.

Earth knew not his conflict; she marked not his tread in her blood-bedewed soil, and her down-trodden harvests, and smoking villages, and plundered cities, and waters red with gore. The field of warfare was in the deep recesses of the lonely spirit. There was none of the "confused noise," and the "garments rolled in blood," which marked the battle of the warrior; but yet the struggle was desperate, and the conflict unceasing. 'Twas a conflict with those with whom peace would be ruin, and com

promise destruction. 'Twas the tug of that desperate mortal strife, in which one of the antagonists is doomed, and there could be no slumbering on the arms-no cessation from the war. Then how great the character of that repose in which such a conflict has ceased, and ceased for ever! How sweet the sleep of the warrior, after such a day of battle and alarms!

And though he may have been unknown to the world, and have passed away in obscurity, perhaps in heart-rending poverty, and amidst the grim loneliness of desertion "unwept and unsung;" yet not "unhonoured" was he. He was a king, a conqueror, passing through earth's scenes in disguise. And whilst no solemn dirge was chaunted at his obsequies, and no long train of mourners thronged around his coffin, and no heraldic pomp and blazonry was there; yet was the scene honoured by the presence of an innumerable company of angels, and the admiring gaze of the Church of the first-born. And there was a requiem for the departing spirit, though no mortal voices chaunted the strain; and the words were, "Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord; yea, saith the Spirit, for they rest from their labours, and their works do follow them." Such is the repose which we would have sought after by the intrepid children of the sea. We would have them, in a word, taught to become fit to die; and not only fit to die, but fit to live. Who ought to be our best missionaries to foreign lands? Our sailors! Who ought to be the bearers, through the habitable globe, of the light of God's truth, and the messages of his love to fallen man? Who, but the very individuals whose neglected condition has too much made them hitherto the ministers of all unrighteousness-the disgrace of Christianity-the scandal of civilization. Thank God that such men as we have named are earnestly employed in removing this stigma from our country-the stigma of a great Christian nation-sending forth men bearing the Christian name, to pollute the morals of the very heathen in the darkest corners of the globe. From the results of their labours, if properly seconded, in dependence upon God's good blessing, we shall look in firm confidence for the approach of a new and delightful order of things; when crews from the Sailor's Home shall go forth with the Bible in their hands, and its precepts in their hearts, as so many pioneers, to prepare the way of the Lord. That thus greatly through their indirect agency, the waters which, small in their issuings, are evermore proceeding from under the threshold of the sanctuary, shall go on and continue to rise, till the whole earth be deluged with their glory, and the Sun of Righteousness shall look down from above, and behold his own. image reflected in the flood.

383

ART. VI.-The Whole Works of the Rev. Joseph Bingham, including Origines Ecclesiastica, or the Antiquities of the Christian Church, carefully collected; with the quotations in the original languages at length, instead of merely the references, as formerly given; a new set of Maps of Ecclesiastical History; and Life of the Author. 9 vols 8vo. London: William Straker.

FOR many years the attention of Christians has been directed to the subject of Jewish Antiquities, while those of the Christian Church have, to a most culpable extent, been neglected. The former have formed the subjects of lectures, and of volumes of no ordinary size, while the latter have been passed by as unworthy of notice. Nay, the very study of Christian Antiquities has not unfrequently been branded with the odious name of popery, and the pursuit itself as suited only to those who are living within the pale of the Romish Church. When we speak of Christian Antiquities, we allude to matters much more ancient than popery. It is true that some of these ancient things have been retained in the Church of Rome, nor are they the less worthy of our regard from that circumstance; but, on the other hand, it is equally true, that the Romish Church has so added to the ancient things of the Christian Church, that they are lost amid her additions. It is difficult to separate the new from the old; while the former attract the attention to the entire exclusion of the latter. The antiquities of the Christian Church are common property; they belong alike to all Churches; and because popery has abused some things, we are not to be deterred from appropriating to our own use those things which we can prove to have been practised by the early Church. Nor can the charge of popery lie at our door, if we strip off the additions which Rome has made to some ceremonies, and adopt them in their original form and character. Such a plan was pursued at the Reformation, by the men whom the Lord raised up in England for the express purpose of restoring his Church to her pristine state. Those wise and holy men pursued their course with undeviating firmness, regardless alike of the cavils of the Papist and the Puritan. They did not reject a ceremony because it had been abused, nor did they retain those additions which popery, during a long succession of ages, had gradually introduced.

A new era has, we believe, commenced with regard to this study. At one time few persons paid any attention to the subject; but at the present moment, most of the clergy and large numbers of the laity, are entering upon it. The age of the Reformation may thus be revived; for the Reformers, as is evident