THE BELL ROCK*. WHATEVER tends to promote the safety of his fellow-creatures will necessarily be an object of interest to the true Christian. Such descriptions, therefore, as that contained in this paper, cannot be irrelevant to the general tone of this work. Many, indeed, are the perils of those "who go down to the sea in ships, and do business in the great waters; who there see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep. For he commandeth and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof." Quietly secure in his own comfortable dwelling, the reader may little think of those who, at the moment his eyes are glancing over these pages, "mount up to the heavens: they go down again to the depths: their soul is

See, among other works, "Cumming's Forfarshire Illustrated." Dundee: 1843. Svo., pp. 140. A very elegant volume, and richly illustrated.

VOL. XVII.

melted because of trouble." There is, probably, no sight in nature more majestically and awfully grand than a storm at sea, when the glorious the wings of the wind, manifests the omnipotence God, who maketh the thunder, and rides upon of his power, the stupendousness of his majesty.

The Bell rock was long the terror of those seamen whose course lay off the eastern coast of the fatal reef; and even now the reef is spoken of Scotland, for many a gallant ship has been lost on of kindred who there found for their resting with shuddering horror by hundreds who can tell place, until the sea shall give up its dead.

Inchcape, derives its present designation from the The rock or reef, originally the Scape or the

to it, tolled by the action of the waves, which was wantonly cut by a Sir Ralph the Rover, who, in the following year, reaped the fruit of his worse

tradition that an abbot of Arbroath attached a bell

G G

The Bell rock is situated 14 miles from Red Head, the furthest point east of the county of Forfar; in N. lat. 56° 29', and 2° 22′ W. long. In A.D. 1796, a lighthouse board was appointed for Scotland; and about A.D. 1800, the commissioners contemplated the erection of a lighthouse here. In 1806, an act of parliament passed, and next year operations were commenced, under the direction and superintendence of Robert Stevenson, esq., engineer to the board. The building occupied about four years, and was completed at a nett cost of 61,3317. 9s. 2d., towards which government contributed by a loan of 30,000l.

The difficulties encountered in the erection were great. The progress was slow, three hours being the whole time available, and that only at the recession of the water at spring-tides. On the 17th of Aug., 1807, the operations commenced; on the 10th of July, 1808, the foundation-stone was laid; and by the end of Sept. the building was closed for the season. The stones were prepared on shore with great accuracy, being numbered and piled up in the position they were to occupy in the building. A vast stock of granite, from Rubieslaw and other quarries in Aberdeenshire, for the outside casing to the height of 30 feet, and sandstone from Mylnefield, near Dundee, and Craigleith, near Edinburgh*, for the other parts, being procured, ensured a constant supply of materials. Mr. Stevenson had the satisfaction of leaving it 31 feet 6 inches, being the solid part, above the rock, at the end of the building season in August, 1809. Early in the spring of 1810, the operations were resumed; and, as the winter had done no damage to the works, they were prosecuted with such vigour that the engineer laid the last stone of the building, being the upper step of the stair, 2nd Sept., aud got everything into its proper place by the following January. The interior being subsequently finished, the light was exhibited on the evening of Friday, Ist February, 1811. During the whole arduous proceedings from the commencement to their completion, only two casualities involving loss of life occurred. One man was lost by a fall from a rope ladder, and another by the upsetting of a boat at the mooringbuoys.

The foundation is nearly on a level with lowwater of ordinary spring-tides, the lower part of the building being about 15 feet immersed when the tide has flowed to its usual height at full and new moon; but, during the progress of the building, the spray has been observed to rise 70 feet upon the tower, and upon one occasion so high as 104, and another to 105 feet. The tower is circular, 42 feet in diameter at the base, which gradually diminishes to 13 at the top, where the light-room rests; including which, the whole elevation is 115 feet. The base, to the height of more than 30 feet, is solid, excepting a drop-hole of 10 inches diameter, for the weight of the machinery which moves the reflectors; the whole blocks being locked and dovetailed into each other, besides being otherwise strongly secured. Above this, the tower to the top is divided, by stone Of the immense quantity of stones used, 35,952 cubic feet were brought from Mylnefield quarry, 13,964 from Rubieslaw and others, and 1,700 from Craigleith; in all, about 2,076 tons after being dressed. These numbers amount to 51,616 cubic feet, which appears were reduced to 28,530 hy dressing.

necessary stores. Round the balcony of the lightroom is a curiously wrought cast-iron rail of network, resting on bats of brass. This room is 12 feet in diameter, and 15 in height, made chiefly of cast-iron, with a roof of copper. The windows are glazed with plates of polished glass, a quarter of an inch thick, and measuring each 2 feet 6 by 2 feet 3 inches. The light is from oil, with Argand burners placed before the reflectors, which, to distinguish this from the other lighthouses on the coast, revolve horizontally once in three minutes, presenting two lights, one of which is intensely bright, and the other tinged by means of a red shade. In clear weather, these lights are seen at a great distance. The reflectors, which measure two feet over the lips, are of copper coated with silver, and formed into a parabolic curve. Two large bells are tolled by machinery in foggy weather, the sound of which is heard at a considerable distance.

When these works were begun, it was said that no one would be found hardy enough to live in the lighthouse; but the applications were so numerous, that the difficulty was, not to find keepers, but to select proper ones. Mr. John Reid, who previously had charge of the floating light, was appointed principal light-keeper, with three assistants. One of the keepers has leave of absence from the rock two weeks at a time. The pay is about 501. per annum, with provisions when on duty at the rock; but when on shore each provides for himself. Near the south-west side of the harbour of Arbroath, suitable buildings were erected and completed in 1813, in which each keeper has apartments for his family; and, in addition, the board purchased a pew of fourteen sittings in the parish church of Arbroath, for their use, at a cost of 527. 10s. Connected with these buildings there is a very handsome circular signaltower, 50 feet in height, in which an excellent achromatic telescopic is kept, and also a code of signals arranged for communicating with the people at the rock, and for the attending vessel. This yacht, the Pharos, attends also the Isle of May and Inchkeith lighthouses.

In Mr. Stevenson's plan of the rock, showing the position of the tower, railways, and other works, there is a spot marked "Craw's Horse." James Craw, a labourer at Arbroath, was principal carter, and engaged at the workyard during the whole time the works were in progress. His horse, a powerful animal about sixteen hands high, is supposed to have drawn the entire materials of the building, exceeding 2,000 tons, not less than three times over: first, he drew the blocks from the vessels which brought them to the workyard; from thence to the platform on which they were arranged; and again to the harbour, to be conveyed to the rock. Craw, with his horse and cart, embarked in the Smeaton, one of the attending vessels, and proceeded to Leith, to which port his horse drew the Craigleth quota of materials for shipment. In the trip to Leith the Smeaton got involved in a dense fog, and edged so near the rock that the first indication of danger to those on board was their hearing the smith at work on the reef. This is supposed to have suggested to Mr. Stevenson the use of bells. Craw's horse died of old age at Inchkeith, in 1813, to which island he was sent, by the kindness of the board, to graze at

large after his services in their employment were completed. Dr. John Barclay, an eminent anatomist in Edinburgh, collected his bones, and arranged them in his museum; so that, as Mr. Stevenson writes, "the bones of the Bell Rock horse, to use the doctor's own language, will be seen and admired as a useful skeleton and a source of instruction, when those of his employers lie mingled with the dust."

Reader, while this night you are on your knees before a throne of grace, neglect not to pray for those who travel by land and by water. Perhaps, while you are thus engaged, many are crying unto the Lord in their trouble. May you and they be enabled joyfully to testify, for life is indeed a tempestuous ocean, "He saved them out of their distresses."

THE INCHCAPE ROCK.

No stir in the air, no stir in the sea:
The ship was still as she could be:
Her sails from heaven received no motion,
Her keel was steady in the ocean.

Without either sign or sound of their shock,
The waves flow'd over the Inchcape rock:
So little they rose, so little they fell,
They did not move the Inchcape bell.

The abbot of Aberbrothok,

Had placed that bell on the Inchcape rock:
On a buoy in the storm it floated and swung,
And over the waves its warning rung.

When the rock was hid by the surge's swell,
The mariners heard the warning bell;
And then they knew the perilous rock,
And bless'd the abbot of Aberbrothok.

The sun in heaven was shining gay;

All things were joyful on that day:

The sea-birds scream'd as they wheel'd round,
And there was a joyaunce in their sound.

The buoy of the Inchcape bell was seen,
A darker speck on the ocean green:
Sir Ralph the rover walk'd his deck,
And he fix'd his eye on the darker speck.

He felt the cheering power of spring:
It made him whistle, it made him sing:
His heart was mirthful to excess;
But the rover's mirth was wickedness.

His eye was on the Inchcape float:
Quoth he, "My men, put out the boat,
And row me to the Inchcape rock,
And I'll plague the abbot of Aberbrothok."

The boat is lower'd, the boatmen row,
And to the Inchcape rock they go:
Sir Ralph bent over from the boat,

And he cut the bell from the Inchcape float.

Down sunk the bell with a gurgling sound:
The bubbles rose and burst around.
Quoth sir Ralph, "The next who comes to
the rock

Won't bless the abbot of Aberbrothok."

Sir Ralph the rover sail'd away:
He scour'd the seas for many a day;
And now grown rich with plunder'd store,
He steers his course for Scotland's shore.
So thick a haze o'erspreads the sky,
They cannot see the sun on high:
The wind hath blown a gale all day;
At evening it hath died away.

On the deck the rover takes his stand:
So dark it is they see no land.
Quoth sir Ralph, "It will be lighter soon,
For there is the dawn of the rising moon."

"Canst hear," said one," the breakers roar?
For methinks we should be near the shore."
"Now where we are I cannot tell,
But I wish we could hear the Inchcape bell."
They hear no sound, the swell is strong:
Though the wind hath fallen, they drift along,
Till the vessel strikes with a shiv'ring shock-
"It is, it is the Inchcape rock!"

Sir Ralph the rover tore his hair;
He cursed himself in his despair:
The waves rush in on every side;
The ship is sinking beneath the tide.

But, even in his dying fear,

One dreadful sound could the rover hear;
A sound as if, with the Inchcape bell,
The devil below was ringing his knell.

SOUTHEY.

PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE ARRANGED UNDER HEADS.

No. VII.

(With suitable Collects.)

DEATH.

"Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life" (John v. 39).

"Blessed Lord, who hast caused all hole scriptures to be written for our learning, grant that we may in such wise hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that, by patience and comfort of thy holy word, we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life which thou hast given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen."-Collect for the Second Sunday in Advent.

I. The first threat of death:

"Of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die" (Gen. ii. 17).

II. The sentence of death pronounced:

"In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return" (Gen. iii. 19).

III. The first execution of the sentence: "And Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him" (Gen. iv. 8).

IV. Different kinds of death:

1. Temporal or natural death. "Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age, like as a shock of corn cometh in in his season" (Job v. 26). "And he died in a good old age, full of days, riches, and honour and Solomon his son reigned in his stead" (1 Chron. xxix. 28).

2. Spiritual death. "And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins" (Eph. ii. 1).

3. Eternal death. "The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Rom. vi. 23).

4. Death unto sin. "Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Rom. vi. 11).

5. Death to the law. "Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God" (Rom. vii. 4).

V. Temporal death:

1. The cause of death-sin.

"Wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned" (Rom. v. 12).

2. The sting of death-sin. "The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law" (1 Cor. xv. 56).

3. Christ died for the ungodly. "When we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly" (Rom. v. 6). Additional-Rom. v. 7, 8.

4. Christ died that he might be Lord of all. "To this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living" (Rom. xiv. 9).

5. Christ died that we should not live unto ourselves. "He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again" (2 Cor. v. 15).

6. Christ dieth no more. "Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him" (Rom. vi. 9).

7. Christ is the first begotten of the dead. "Jesus Christ (who) is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the Prince of the kings of the earth" (Rev. i. 5). Additional

Col. i. 18.

8. We are baptized into Christ's death. "Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death" (Rom. vi. 3)?

9. It was prophesied that Christ should swallow up death in victory. "He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth; for the Lord hath spoken it" (Isa. xxv. 8). Additional 1 Cor. xv. 54.

10. Christ through death destroyed him that had the power of death. "Forasmuch then as. the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil" (Heb. ii. 14). 11. Christ delivers from fear of death. "And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage" (Heb. ii. 15).

12. Death turned to a blessing through Christ. "And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them" (Rev. xiv. 13).

13. God raised Christ from the dead. "We are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ" (1 Cor. xv. 15).

14. Comfort in death. "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me: thy rod and thy staff they comfort me" (Ps. xxiii. 4).

15. The righteous hath hope in his death. "The wicked is driven away in his wickedness; but the righteous hath hope in his death" (Prov. xiv. 32).

16. The two persons who escaped death. "And Enoch walked with God; and he was not; for God took him" (Gen.v. 24). "And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven" (2 Kings ii. 11).

17. Death cannot separate us from the love of God. "I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Rom. viii. 38, 39).

18. Whether we live or die, we are the Lord's. "Whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's" (Rom. xiv. 8).

19. Many were raised from the dead :
Jairus's daughter (Matt. ix.).
Lazarus (John xi.).

The widow of Nain's son (Luke vii.).
The Shunamite's son (2 King's iv.).
The widow of Zarephath's son (1 Kings xvii.).
Dorcas (Acts ix.).

Eutychus (Acts xx.).

20. After death comes judgment. "It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment" (Heb. ix. 27). Additional-Rev. xx. 13, 14.

21. The wise die as well as fools.

"He seeth

that wise men dieth, likewise the fool and the brutish person perish, and leave their wealth to others" (Ps. xlix. 10). "There is no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever; seeing that which now is in the days to come shall all be forgotten. And how dieth the wise man? as the fool" (Eccles. ii. 16). Additional-Job. iv. 21.

22. Our life and death are wholly in the hand of God. "Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled: thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust" (Ps. civ. 29). tional-Job xxxiv. 14, 15.

Addi