ganon law, when the authority of ceneral councils came to be questioned. Then a line was, for the first time, drawn between the genuine and the interpolated canons, and the eighty-fifth accordingly numbered among the latter. And it is curious to observe, that the distinction was made by applying the very test for which I contend, in ascertaining the genuine text of St. John's Epistle; for Archbishop Usher, discovered the true Canons and Epistles of St. Ignatius, merely by confronting the testimony of the Greek and Latin Church, and allowing its due share of authority to the latter.

But to evince how effectually this information was locked up from the Latin Church, I now cite an example in Cassiodorus. It is obvious, notwithstanding the superior advantages which he possessed for acquiring knowledge in a subject on which he was curious above all the Latins, he was wholly ignorant of the authority on which the informa. tion contained in the disputed prologue is founded. Of all the mem. bers of the Western Church he only could bring it to bear upon the Latin Vulgate for as he reconciled the Papal schism, his influence must have been great, and he instituted that method of correcting the old version, which insensibly brought in the new of Jerome. But, however, this power of altering the Latin version, which will never be ascribed with equal probability to any other person, may procure him the honour of being considered the author of the prologue, and interpolater of the Vulgate, the suspicion is laid eternally at rest by one simple consideration. If the order ascribed the Epistles in the disputed prologue, be compared with that assigned to the books of Jerome, in his "Institutions" the question will be decided by the comparison. So palpable is the discrepancy between them that, the utter impossibility of reconciling the two contradictory

accounts, led Martianay to reject the prologue on the authority of Cassiodorus, How very weak this attempt of the learned Benedictine is, will be evident on barely inspecting the order assigned to St. Jerome's books, in "the Divine Institutions ;" as it contradicts the testimony of Jerome himself, together with that of the entire Vulgate, and, of the Council of Laodicea, all which afford each other mutual confirma.tion. It is indeed difficult to account for the error of Cassiodorus, unless we suppose him misled by a false conception of the disputed prologue; of his knowledge of which we have at least this evidence, that he quotes the contested passage, which it is intended to vindicate. If we suppose him to have taken, in a general sense, the declaration of the prologue relative to "St. Peter's Epistles occupying the first place," without considering that it is applied, in a limited sense, to the Catholic Epistles; though his oversight was gross, his error was natural. But in thus placing these Epistles before the rest, he commits the egregious blunder of thrusting the Pauline among the Catholic Epistles; and thus demonstrates that he could have never seen the Apostolical Canons. For they equally vindicate the first place to St. Peter's Epistles without dislocating the order of the whole, by mixing St. Paul's among the Catholic Epistles.

But as an instance not less striking, of the very limited degree to which this information has been propagated in the West, I mention the error into which the want of it has led the compilers of the Benedictine edition of St. Jerome. An ignorance of the order ascribed the Epistles in the Apostolical Canons, has led them to pass sentence on the author of the prologue, as an uninstructed impostor, who was ignorant of the order which the Greeks assigned to the books of Scripture. For this injustice, however, they have made some amends, in clearing

toes are generally adorned with large rings.-Jonnerat.

Of the Indian dancing women who danced before the Ambassadors at Ispahan, some were shod after a very strange manner. They had above the instep of the foot, a string tied, with little bells fastened thereto, whereby they discovered the exactness of their cadence, and sometimes corrected the music itself, as they did also by the Tzarpanes or Castagnets which they had in their hands, in the managing whereof they were very expert.

At Koojan, Mr. Mungo Park saw a dance in which many performers assisted, all of whom were provided with little bells, which were fastened to their legs and arms.

The hair of the Hindoo women is commonly rolled up into a knot or bunch, towards the back of the head, which is fastened with a gold bodkin; it is ornamented with jewels, and some have curls that hang before and behind the ears. They wear bracelets on their arms, rings in their ears, on their fingers, ankles, and toes, and sometimes a small ring on one side of the nostril. In Kashmire they wear the hair plaited and hanging down behind, and a muslin veil, that covers the head, and falls down below the middle. The dancing girls sometimes wear trowsers like the Persians; a Jama of worked muslin, or gold or silver tissue; the hair plaited, and hanging down behind, with spiral curls on each side of the face; and to the gold or silver rings on the ankles, in some of their dances, they attach small bells of the same metals. The figures of the Bacchantes that are to be met with in antique paintings and bas-reliefs, may serve as exact representations of some of the dancing women in Hindostan.-Sketches of Hindoos. vol. ii. p. 45-48.

The Tadinums (a sect of devotees) go about begging, and singing the history of the different incarnations of Vishnou. They beat a kind of tabor; and have small brass

bells tied round their ankles, which make a considerable noise as they walk along.-Sketches of the Hindoos, vol. i. p. 243.

Luke x. 30. 34.

"And Jesus answering, said, a certain man went down from Jerusalem toJericho, and fell among thieves, &c.

But a certain Samaritan had compassion upon him, and went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, &c.”

Our Saviour lays the scene of this Parable on the road between Jerusalem and Jericho with particular attention to accuracy, if we may judge from the description of the country given by Mariti, vol. ii. p. 318; and conclude, from local causes, that the road was then as perilous as he describes it to be now. "The road," says he, "which conducts from Jerusalem to Jericho is very dangerous. The plain between these cities, as well as those on the banks of the river Jordan, are infested by hordes of Arabs; and on this account, it is not prudent to cross them without a strong guard. We were now about to enter a very dangerous road near Bahurim; and we very prudently waited for those who were lagging behind. Having passed Bahurim, we descended into a narrow valley, rendered singularly obscure by the elevation of two mountains. At sunrise we perceived Adommim, where several travellers have lost their lives. It is singularly favourable to robbers, who keep themselves here in ambush. Of this its name is a proof; since Adommim in the Hebrew language signifies the Place of Blood. A little further on the left, appears a fortress, which commands the whole neighbourhood. It is situated upon the summit of a mountain; and is defended by ditches cut out in the solid rock. It was constructed by the Christians for the purpose of protecting pilgrims in this dangerous part of their journey... A vast solitude here opened before us, and we beheld nothing but rocks, commons, and uncultivated valleys. I am not astonished that the inhabi

tants of these places should be naturally ferocious. Wherever the earth is barren and has a dismal appearance, mau is gloomy, and fond of plunder. Melancholy and want surround him in his cradle; the first sensation he experiences is that of pain. He is told, on all sides, that the earth denies him food; and his hand is armed with the murdering steel, which hunger makes him turn against the traveller. Must I say it?-He finds no enjoyment but when, by a successful assassination, he has rendered himself master of the spoils of another. These are the only crops which the fields here produce him. Having crossed this desart for twelve miles, we descended by a steep declivity into the plain of Jericho, after a tedious march of seven hours."

the young, when hatched, to their fate. This idea more recent inquiries have proved to be erroneous, but the following extract will shew on what good foundation the opinion rested; so good indeed as to be generally believed by the Arabs themselves to the present day.

As we went

"An immense plain presented itself to us, interspersed with hollow and broken ground. along, one of our servants stumbled on an Ostrich's nest. The bird, as usual, had forsaken it, leaving to the sun to hatch her eggs. There were no less than fifteen eggs in this nest, which afforded a good repast to the Arabs. I rode back above a mile, to examine the structure of the nest, which can be compared to nothing else than the bed which the bricklayers make in mixing up their mortar. It was raised some inches above the surface of the earth, and formed of fine sand about three feet diameter, with a trench round to preserve the eggs from being laid under water."-Irwin's Voyage up the Red Sea, &c. vol. ii. p. 304.

SKETCHES OF THE ECCLESIAS TICAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN.

No. v.

From the Death of Austin to the Establishment of Christianity in Northumberland.

AT the accession of Laurentius to the See of Canterbury, the kingdom of Kent still continued subject to Ethelbert, its first Christian prince. And during the remainder of his life, the establishments of Austin were preserved without any material alteration. Laurentius renewed the attempt upon the British bishops, but without success. And the Scotch and Irish Christians, making common cause with their brethren against

the Romish missionaries, refused even to eat or associate with them. There is no reason to suppose that any material progress was made among the unconverted heathen, and the deaths of Ethelbert, and his nephew, Sigibert king of Essex, compelled the missionaries to abandon the ground they had gained.

Eadbald succeeded his father Ethelbert in the government of Kent; and having married the widow of the deceased prince, was reproached by Laurentius for a practice which was not heard of even among the Gentiles. He revenged himself for this affront by relapsing into idolatry; and the courtiers who had embraced the Gospel out of compliment to his father, did not hesitate to renounce it in company with the

new monarch. The children of the king of Essex had never been converted to the Christian faith; and upon the death of Seber, they not only persisted in their infidelity, but treated Mellitus, their bishop, with the grossest contumely, and soon drove him out of their territory. The three prelates, Laurentius, Mellitus, and Justus, determined to quit the island, and the two latter carried their intention into effect. But Laurentius acted a more honourable part, (by the direction, as we are assured, of St. Peter), and returning once more to his infatuated prince, prevailed upon him to give up his idols, and his incest, to recall the banished bishops, and re-establish the Church. Laurentius died in 819, and was succeeded by Mellitus, who, after a period of five years, was followed by Justus. To the latter Bede informs us, that Pope Boniface sent a pall, together with high commendations of his eloquence, piety, and zeal; but either their lives were signalized by no remarkable occurrences, or the insignificance into which the kingdom of Kent now fell, and the connection of our early historians with the Northern parts of the Island, have prevented us from receiving an account of their actions. During the remainder of the present century, there is no portion of the country which affords slighter materials for ecclesiastical history, than that which was the principal scene of the labours of St. Austin.

The bustle and interest of the times are divided between Northumberland and Mercia; the former extending from the Humber to the Forth, the latter comprising the counties of Gloster, Hereford, Worcester, Warwick, Leicester, Rutland, Northampton, Lincoln, Bedford, Oxford, Nottingham, Buckingham, Derby, Stafford, Shropshire, and Cheshire, and being divided into North and South by the Trent. Edwin, king of the Northumbrians, married Edelberga, daughter of

Ethelbert, king of Kent; and Paulinus was consecrated by Justus, and sent into the North, with the new married princess. Her husband did not prove a willing convert; but he suffered his infant daughter to be baptized by Paulinus, and having narrowly escaped assassination, and been successful in a war against the East-Saxons, he was induced to attribute both events to the prayers of his wife, and consulted his principal attendants upon the propriety of embracing the Christian religion. His high-priest, Coifi, assented for a singular reason, namely, that he had ever been a diligent worshipper of the Gods of the Saxons; and had, nevertheless, been an unhappy and unfortunate man. A lay-counsellor spoke more to the purpose"Man's life," said he, "O king, is like unto a little sparrow, which, whilst your majesty is feasting in your parlour with your royal retinue, flies in at one window, and out at a another. Indeed, we see it that short time it remaineth in the house, and then is it well sheltered from wind and weather; but presently it passeth from cold to cold, and whence it came and whither it goes we are altogether ignorant. Thus we can give some account of our soul during its abode in the body, while housed and harboured therein; but where it was before, and how it fareth after, is to us altogether unknown. If therefore Paulinus's preaching will certainly inform us herein, he deserveth, in my opinion, to be entertained." These and other arguments produced the desired effect. The priest Coifi led the way to the destruction of the idols which he had served in vain-and Paulinus had the satisfaction of baptizing King Edwin at York, where a cathedral was immediately founded, and an archiepiscopal see established.

Encouraged by this success, and by the continued favour of King Ed

* The translation of Bede's words here adopted, is that of Fuller.