BRITISH HEROES AND WORTHIES. With Portraits. London: Religious Tract Society, Paternoster Row. THE Preface will explain the character of this book:-"In the spring of 1865, the late Earl of Derby addressed a letter to the Lords of the late Committee of Council on Education, suggesting that 'a National Portrait Exhibition, chronologically arranged, might not only possess great historical interest, by bringing together portraits of all the most eminent contemporaries of their respective eras, but might also serve to illustrate the progress and condition, at various periods, of British art." The suggestion was acted upon. Application was made to noblemen, gentlemen, and heads of public bodies throughout the kingdom, for the loan of historical portraits in their possession; and in April, 1866, the first Exhibition was opened at South Kensington, consisting of pictures of a date not later than the close of the reign of James II. A large proportion of the pictures exhibited had never been engraved, and the personal appearance of those whom they represented was unknown to the general public. In other cases, the likeness had been taken at an age, or under an aspect, different to the one commonly given. And very frequently the current and familiar portraits had been copied, not from the originals, but from some previous engraving, till in the course of time the conventional representation had come to differ very widely from the original type. It was thought desirable, therefore, to select some of the most interesting from amongst the Heroes and Worthies, thus delineated, and reproduce their portraits with scrupulous fidelity. In many cases the picture is now engraved for the first time. In others the current, though incorrect likeness, has been brought into accordance with the authentic original. But in every case accuracy of representation has been the first object; at the same time, artistic excellence has not been overlooked. To secure this, the drawing, engraving, and printing have been executed under the special superintendence of Mr. Edward Whymper, and no pains or expense have been spared to secure a satisfactory result. The brief memoirs, which accompany the portraits, have been written by the Revs. Dr. Stoughton, R. Demaus, and the Editor. The subjects are- -Wycliffe-Hugh Latimer-John Knox-George Buchanan-Lady Jane Grey-John Foxe -Sir Philip Sidney-Sir Walter Raleigh-William Harvey-John Pym -John Hampden-Lord Falkland-John Milton-Andrew MarvellRichard Baxter-John Owen-Jeremy Taylor-Bishop Ken-Sir Matthew Hale and Sir Christopher Wren. This is a book that deserves, and will command, extensive circulation. It is certainly most exquisitely "got up," and the sketches are very interestingly written. "And as He went out of the temple, one of His disciples saith unto him, Master, see what manner of stones, and what buildings are here."Mark xiii. 1. "And as some spake of the temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and gifts, He said, As for these things which ye behold, the days will come, in the which there shall not be left one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down."-St. Luke xxi. 5, 6. N approaching the close of another year, one's mind naturally turns to destinies. We look within and without, and ask in mood solemn and sad, "What shall be the end of these things?" The text reminds us of things that are doomed. The Temple, whose stones the disciples were now admiring, was doomed to ruin. "As for these things," says Christ, "the days will come, in the which there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down." It would seem that the disciples were evidently, on this occasion, charmed with the magnificence of the building. "What manner of stones, and what buildings are here!" An outburst of admiration this. The stones were indeed beautiful. That sacred building was constructed of prodigious blocks of white marble, some of which seem to have been upwards of thirty feet long, eighteen broad, and sixteen thick. How surprisingly VOL. XXIX. X beautiful it must have looked as it stood up there upon Moriah's historic brow, glistening in the sunbeams, embosomed by the green mountains, and looking down with a sacred majesty upon the bustling city! Who wonders at their admiration? Yet there is a saddening thought connected with it, and the thought was this: it was a doomed thing. They did not view it in the light which Christ viewed it. He looked at it as the gorgeous shadow of a glorious substance that was gone-aye, and that gorgeous shadow itself soon to be swept away by the stern justice of the universe. As if He had said, "As for these things, they are scarcely worthy your admiration: they need not delight you so. Once they had a grand spiritual significance, and a glorious spiritual function; but now they stand before Me as an unmeaning and useless pile of stones, doomed very soon to be shivered to pieces. To Me that Temple looks as the closing scene of a wonderful past, as a token of a rapidly darkening present, as the prophecy of a tremendous future." It is worthy of note in passing, that Christ, in His discourse, speaks in a very different spirit of doomed things to what He does of doomed people. Mind was infinitely more interesting to Him than masonry. When He refers to the Temple He says, "As for these things," with an air of comparative indifference; but when He refers to doomed people He weeps, and says, "O Jerusalem, 0 Jerusalem," &c. What a wail is this! What mysterious depths of sympathy it faintly echoes! Never did such a wail go forth on the atmosphere of our earth or the universe before. It is more than the wail of a patriot over the destruction of his country, more than the wail of a philanthropist over the physical ruin of his race. It is the wail of an infinitely loving Saviour over the doom of lost souls. This wail has floated down the centuries, and rings in our hearts at this moment. Christ now abandons Jerusalem. The language of Christ and His disciples here will apply To secular interests, which are doomed things. With the same admiring feelings expressed by the disciples in the expression, "What manner of stones and what buildings are here," we find men in this age and land looking at the institutions and pursuits of secular life. Commerce, with its fleets whitening the sea, and its emporiums, in magnitude, brilliancy, and number, the wonder of every town and city:-Politics, with the splendour of its palaces, the pageantry of its sovereigns, and the majesty of its laws:War, with the pomp and power of its navies and armies, men are everywhere looking at these, and exclaiming, "What goodly stones are these,—what a wonderful people we are in material resources, grandeur, and force, we are unapproached, if not unapproachable." But all these things are doomed. "As for these things, not one stone shall be left upon another." Markets, governments, navies, and armies are doomed; a fatal blight is on them all; as morning mists on the mountains, they will soon be lost in the azure of eternity. The language of Christ and His disciples here will apply To artistic productions, which are doomed things. We live in an age and land where material civilization has reached a stage, and accumulated resources, unapproached by any former times. Architecture, sculpture, painting, manufacturing, and, above all, engineering, reveal, on all hands, human genius in the unrivalled exquisiteness of its taste, and the power of its contrivance. Men visit our exhibitions, gaze on the breathing marble, and the glowing canvas, and the wonderful machinery, and exclaim, "What stones are these!" But as for these things, "not one stone shall be left upon another." Time, with his fingers, shall rust the most brilliant, crumble the most enduring, shatter the most powerful and stupendous of all human productions. "The cloud-capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces, And, like this unsubstantial pageant faded, The language of Christ and His disciples will apply— To social distinctions, which are doomed things. Numerous are the adventitious distinctions existing in society, and in those not a few feel an admiring interest: they are ready to say, "What stones are these!" These are the lineal descendants of those who figured in history centuries ago; these are the inheritors of princely fortunes; these are the rulers of men holding the destinies of nations in their hands; these are they whose fathers fought in ancient war, or grappled in debates, which broke up cabinets, and destroyed kingdoms. What great men they are,-semi-deities to be worshipped; before them peoples wave the hat, bend the knee, and shout the "Hurrah!" But "as for these things," what are they? They must all come to an end-"not one stone shall be left on another." Death annihilates all such distinctions. In the grave "the rich and poor meet together." "There, kings and counsellors of the earth, and princes that have gold," mingle their ashes with those who here spent their years in penury and want. and want. "There, the prisoners rest together; they hear not the voice of the oppressor; the small and the great are there, and the servant is free from his master." "But this I say, brethren, the time is short: it remaineth, that both they that have wives be as though they had none; and they that weep, as though they wept not; and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and they that buy, as though they possessed not; and they that use this world, as not abusing it: for the fashion of this world passeth away." The language of Christ and His disciples will applyTo religious systems, which are doomed things. Men, the world over, have their religious systems,-systems of |