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corner of the earth, among a crew of wild thieves and runnagates (such have those Arabians been always famed and known to be), this sect had its birth and fosterage; among those fierce and savage over-runners of the world it got its growth and stature; into this sort of people (being indeed in its constitution well accommodated to their humour and genius) it was partly insinuated by juggling tricks, partly driven by seditious violence; the first author hereof being a person, according to the description given of him in their own legends, of no honest or honourable qualities, but having all the marks of an impostor; rebellious and perfidious, inhuman and cruel, lewd and lascivious, of a base education, of a fraudulent and turbulent disposition, of a vicious life, pretending to enthusiasms, and working of wonders; but these such as were both in their nature absurd and incredible, and for their use vain and unprofitable: at such a season, and in such a soil, by such means, and by such a person (abetted by associates like himself, whom his arts, or their interests had inveigled to join with him) was this religion_first planted; and for its propagation it had that great advantage of falling in the way of barbarous people, void of learning and civility, and not prepossessed with other notions, or any sense of religion; who thence (as mankind is naturally susceptive of religious impressions) were capable and apt to admit any religion first offering itself, especially one so gross as this was, so agreeable to their furious humours and lusts. Afterward, being furnished with such champions, it diffused itself by rage and terror of arms; convincing men's minds only by the sword, and using no other arguments but blows. Upon the same grounds of ignorance and force it still subsists; neither offering for, nor taking against itself any reason; refusing all examination, and upon extreme penalties forbidding any dispute about its truth; being indeed so far (whether out of judgment or fatal instinct) wise, as conscious to itself, or foreboding, that the letting in of a little light, and a moderate liberty of discussing its pretences, would easily overthrow it.-Barrow,

ECCLESIASTICAL MUSIC.

TOUCHING musical harmony, whether by instrument or by voice, it being but of high and low in sounds a due proportionable disposition, such notwithstanding is the force thereof, and so pleasing effects it hath in that very part of man which is most divine, that some have been thereby induced to think that the soul itself by nature is, or hath in it harmony; a thing which delighteth all ages, and beseemeth all states; a thing as seasonable in grief as in joy; as decent, being added unto actions of greatest weight and solemnity, as being used when men most sequester themselves from action. The reason hereof is an admirable facility which music hath to express and represent to the mind, more inwardly than any other sensible means, the very standing, rising, and falling, the very steps and inflections every way, the turns and varieties of all passions whereunto the mind is subject: yea, so to imitate them, that, whether it resemble unto us the same state wherein our minds already are, or a clean contrary, we are not more contentedly by the one confirmed, than changed and led away by the other. In harmony the very image and character even of virtue and vice is perceived, the mind delighted with their resemblances, and brought by having them often iterated into a love of the things themselves. For which cause there is nothing more contagious and pestilent than some kinds of harmony; than some nothing more strong and potent unto good. And that there is such a difference of one kind from another we need no proof but our own experience, inasmuch as we are at the hearing of some more inclined unto sorrow and heaviness, of some more mollified and softened in mind; one kind apter to stay and settle us, another to move and stir our affections; there is that draweth to a marvellous grave and sober mediocrity; there is also that carrieth as it were into ecstacies, filling the mind with a heavenly joy, and for the time in a manner severing it from the body; so that, although we lay altogether aside the consideration. of ditty or matter, the very harmony of sounds being framed in due sort, and carried from the ear to the spiritual faculties of our souls, is by a native puissance and efficacy

greatly available to bring to a perfect temper whatsoever is there troubled, apt as well to quicken the spirits as to allay that which is too eager, sovereign against melancholy and despair, forcible to draw forth tears of devotion, if the mind be such as can yield them, able both to move and to moderate all affections. The Prophet David having therefore singular knowledge, not in poetry alone, but in music also, judged them both to be things most necessary for the house of God, left behind him to that purpose a number of divinely indited poems, and was further the author of adding unto poetry melody in public prayer, melody both vocal and instrumental for the raising up of men's hearts and the sweetening of their affections towards God. In which considerations the Church of Christ doth likewise at this present day retain it as an ornament to God's service, and a help to our own devotion.-Hooker.

CONSTITUTION OF ENGLAND.

THE three species of government have, all of them, their several perfections and imperfections. Democracies are usually the best calculated to direct the end of a law; aristocracies to invent the means by which that end shall be obtained; and monarchies to carry those means into execution. And the ancients had, in general, no idea of any other permanent form of government but these three; for though Cicero declares himself of opinion, that the best form of government would be made up of the three sorts already mentioned, yet a later writer treats the notion of a mixed government, formed of them all, and partaking of the advantages of each, as a visionary whim, and one that, if effected, would never be lasting or secure. But, happily for us of this empire, the British constitution has long remained, and, I trust, will long continue, a standing exception to the truth of this observation: for as with us the executive power of the laws is lodged in a single person, they have all the advantages of strength and despatch that are to be found in the most absolute monarchy: and as the legislature of the kingdom is entrusted to three distinct powers, entirely independent of each other-first, the king; secondly, the lords spiritual and temporal, which is an aristocratical assembly of persons selected for their

piety, their birth, their wisdom, their valour, or their property; and, thirdly, the house of commons, freely chosen by the people from among themselves, which makes it a kind of democracy,-as this aggregate body, actuated by different springs, and attentive to different interests, composes the British parliament, and has the supreme disposal of every thing, there can be no inconvenience attempted by either of the three branches, but will be withstood by the other two, each branch being armed with a negative power, sufficient to repel any innovation which it shall think inexpedient or dangerous. Here, then, is lodged the sovereignty of the British constitution; and lodged as beneficially as is possible for society; for in no other shape could we be so certain of finding the three great qualities of government so well and so happily united. If the supreme power were lodged in any one of the three branches separately, we must be exposed to the inconveniences of either absolute monarchy, aristocracy, or democracy, and so want two of the three principal ingredients of good polity, either virtue, wisdom, or power. If it were lodged in any two of the branches-for instance, in the king and house of lords-our laws might be providently made, and well executed, but might not always have the good of the people in view: if lodged in the king and commons, we should want that circumspection and mediatory caution which the wisdom of the peers is to afford: if the supreme right of legislature were lodged in the two houses only, and the king had no negative upon their proceedings, they might be tempted to encroach upon the royal prerogative, or, perhaps, to abolish the kingly office, and thereby weaken, if not totally destroy, the strength of the executive power. But the constitutional government of this empire is so admirably tempered and compounded, that nothing can endanger or hurt it, but destroying the balance of power between one branch of the legislature and the rest. For if ever it should happen that the independence of any one of the three should be lost, or that it should become subservient to the views of either of the other two, there would soon be an end of our constitution. -Blackstone.

THE POWER OF CHRISTIANITY.

IN an extraordinary manner, Christianity adapts itself to the circumstances of the poor; and we shall not hesitate to say, that the amount of temporal happiness introduced into the lowest family by making it religious, far exceeds what will follow on making it rich. It is not that religion will exclude want and remove trouble; though it must not be overlooked, that we generally find the religious family more thriving, just because those vices will be unknown, and those virtues cultivated, which respectively obstruct and promote the prosperity of a household. But if religion augments not the substance, it communicates contentment; and the poor man, contented with his poverty, is a far happier and more dignified being, than the rich man, restless and dissatisfied in his abundance. This it is which Christianity does for the poor: it does not substitute the luxurious banquet for the bread and the water, but it makes the family feel that the bread and the water are more than they deserve, and as much as is for their good; and this gives a relish to the scanty fare which would make it unwillingly exchanged for the lordly feast. Christianity does not diminish the labour for the obtaining the livelihood, but it sends a man to work in the strength of his God, and thus so braces him for exertion, that the demand upon his energies seem lightened. Christianity does not prevent the entrance of sorrow, but it produces such submission to the will of a wise and compassionate Father, as lessens the burden, and causes it to be felt as intended for good. Christianity does not shield from death, nor secure its possessor from long-continued disease; but it shows death despoiled of its sting, and the grave of its victory; and so nerves for the last conflict, as to take away its terrors. And if Christianity effect all this, where will you find us the engine by which so much may be done towards improving the human condition? What will introduce so general a contentment? What will so augment the sum total of happiness? What will ease so many hearts? What will dry so many tears, scatter so many anxieties, excite so many hopes? What will apply a helping power to the oppressed and suffering,

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