know they of their true nature and value? Or of the works of Ezekiel and Daniel, what do they understand? Every orthodox man has a theory of his own about their meaning, and even the Jews themselves acknowledge that they cannot expound them. Our great prophetic divines profess to discover in their pages the key to the changes and wonders of our age, but, seeing that in every generation the same thing is asserted, and a new key is found, we may be pardoned for not pinning our faith where our reason cannot be satisfied.

And if they be not understood yet are so highly prized, must not their reputed value be fictitious? They who believe in the Koran, will not give up one of its chapters for all the books known in Europe, and our missionaries are ready enough in denouncing such folly, which, however, they explain by the fact, that the said believers will not read the works they denounce. They attach a fictitious value to what they possess, and by that value they estimate all other treatises; but, as the missionaries say, "we "who know more of the truth are not to be thus deceived." They maintain and declare to the Mahometans that, even if there be valuable chapters in the Koran, there are chapters equally valuable in the works of Locke, Bacon, and Herschell. And thus, as far as that curious work is concerned, there is no display of hesitation in England about contrasting its value with the works of other authors, neither can we conceive there should be any about fairly comparing the sayings of Plato and Socrates with those of Ezekiel and Daniel. We know, indeed, that this work will have to be done, for society cannot continue to thrive upon a barren moor, and will not endeavour to do so when made aware of the fact that good herbage is to be obtained. The words of the real teachers may be hidden beneath the bushel of prejudice, but only for a time, as the bushel will decay, but the truth never.

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Judging, however, from the mere surface of things, it would appear that bigotry and superstition are still to exercise dominion. The "lights of the "age are engaged in grand works, not upon the poor bleachers of the North, but upon prophecy. And what is it that is meant by the modern prophetic furor? Why are we deluged with books and sermons upon "little horns," and "the great horns," the "coming of Gog and Magog," and the "Armageddon battle "? The very atmosphere seems to be charged with prophetic matter, everybody reads it, and it is gravely concluded, that the present scheme of things is about to close, "as was foreshown by the "prophet Ezekiel." There is, however, with all the talk and sermonising, some reason to hope that the date has been wrongly calculated, or that at least the crash may be for a time postponed. It is believed that Crown Court Chapel is to be cleaned and newly painted, and should this rumour prove to be true, it will be the means of comforting many poor souls who have hitherto sat in affliction, for if Dr. Cumming will actually permit money to be spent upon his chapel, they may be well assured the end is not yet; he is a cool man, and too much attached to the bawbees to consent to their being employed without the certainty of a return. And what of Spurgeon's great assembly rooms?

The great revival, however, is pointed out by many as a significant proof that we have reached the latter days, and if priestly power could accomplish it, there is no room to doubt that the revival would have been worked up into "the most magnificent proof on record." But it could not be done. The state of affairs in Italy and elsewhere was too exciting for the middle classes to find time for Revivalism, and the working classes have been too closely

confined earning their bread. Thus, the movement begun by folly, continued by fanaticism, and maintained by priestcraft, is rapidly sinking into contempt. It may succeed in creating a few more patients for our lunatic asylums, but no more; and estimating it by the aims of its clerical advocates, we cannot be otherwise than glad of its failure.

A good revival, a thoroughly honest revival, would have our support. Nothing would delight us more than to find that the old spirit, which burst the shackles of Rome, had been revived, and that the broad platform of intellectual freedom would again be upheld. A revival of soul, a real elevation of the intellect, is much needed, but that is not what the revivalists desire. Their aim goes no farther than to coerce people into attending the services, or at least paying for their performance. If a man pays pew rent, and subscribes to the missionary funds, then all is well, and the cause of God is reported as greatly thriving-in money matters! The leaders have no desire to make men, but only to increase the number of submissive slaves; and to promote that object they resort to "prophecy" or to the "new dispensation." They cannot win converts by the aid of reason, so they will get them through the agency of fear. If promises will not do, then threats must be tried-but both must fail; for, although there are shadows upon the land, the sun still exists, and in the end cannot fail to shine forth in all its glory. Even Italy is shaking off the priestly dominion, and it is too much to believe that England will resume the old fetters which the Italians have found unbearable. Mere spiritual authority is doomed, and the Churches which will outlive the hours of trial are those which cast out fear and take in love, which abandon the rod and take to the wand of science, and which desire only to rest upon truth, without regard to forms and creeds. These may live indeed must live, for society cannot otherwise be supported and preserved, but it will be as the friends of all which is noble and of good report, and as representing the idea that the words and works of all good men belong to the great Bible of humanity, from whence, as from a never failing fountain-head, we may draw words of love and wisdom, and wherein we may find enshrined all the noble examples of heroism and virtue afforded by the great ones of God's children in all parts of the world.

NOTICE.-Just Published, Price 9s., Cloth,

P. W. P.

PRACTICAL RELIGION CONTRASTED WITH THEOLOGICAL THEORIES,

BEING A SERIES OF SUNDAY MORNING DISCOURSES DELIVERED BY

P. W. PERFITT,

TO THE SOCIETY OF INDEPENDENT RELIGIOUS REFORMERS,

In the Oakley Rooms, Manor Street, Chelsea.

CONTENTS.- Introduction-1. Religious Culture-2. The Essence of Religion-3. The Religious Sentiment-4. Independent Religious Life-5. Sacred Places-6. Holy Days-7. Formal Prayer-8. Sacred Books-9. Inspiration in all Ages-10. Origin of the Human Race-11. Morality of Scepticism-12. Faith in the Unseen-13. Worship in Spirit and Truth-14. Life and its Lessons-15. Life and its Triumphs-16. Faith in God-17. Faith in Man-18. The Earnest Worker-19. Meaning of "The Fall"-20. " Saving the Soul"-21. Life and its Harvest Seasons22. That which is Noble Never Dies-23. Death and Change-24. The Indelibility of Character.

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The above may be had Post Free by sending the amount in Post-Office Order, or in Stamps, addressed DR, PHILIP WILLIAM PERFITT, 20, Hemingford Terrace, Barnsbury.

SURPRISE AT WOMAN'S GREAT ACTIONS.

IT has frequently struck us as very singular that whenever a woman stands forward to take an active part in the affairs of life, whenever she speaks and writes upon important questions with force, clearness, and comprehensiveness, or acts with great boldness and energy, so as to win for herself a niche in the general history of the age, great surprise is manifested, and men speak as if an eighth wonder had been added to the seven already renowned through the world. Miss Martineau travelled through Egypt, and viewed the old and the new with human interest, and then sat down to write out her splendid thoughts for the general improvement of the present and coming ages, whereupon men gathered together to talk the matter over in wonderment and suspicion, precisely as though, when woman was formed, neither eyes nor heart, nor real understanding, had been apportioned her; and they were not few in number who spake as though this celebrated authoress had committed "the unpardonable sin" in writing her "Eastern Life". -a book upon Egypt which transcends all modern works upon the subject. Many other ladies, however, have excited the same kind of interest. Mrs. Somervile, in her "Mechanism of the Heavens," undoubtedly produced one of the finest works upon the mechanical and philosophical relations of the stellar universe that has been written since the days of Newton, and when scientific gentlemen came together to discuss its merits, although there seemed to be no doubt expressed-as there was no room for doubtabout the greatness of the work, there was much uneasy feeling exhibited, and a great deal of wondering how she had done it, coupled with grave questioning whether it was "altogether prudent" for a lady to devote attention to such subjects. They spake as men who were thoroughly convinced that woman has no right to deal with abstract ideas, and that all power of deep reasoning, conjoined with the desire for knowledge of the inner universal laws, usually supposed to be given to men, had been totally denied to her. And when Mrs. Fry commenced and carried through her noble task of visiting the criminals and the outcasts in prison, there were scores who scrupled not to question her motives, her "delicacy of sentiment," and her purity of nature; for, as they inquired, how could a refined, pure-minded woman visit the scenes of pollution and infamy, with which she had become familiar, without becoming contaminated through contact, or without possessing some indelicate boldness to enable her to commence it? Such were the questionings, and while many professed themselves capable of understanding and admiring the labours of Howard, and that consistently with purity of character and true manly delicacy, but they could not, in the same sense, understand the career of Mrs. Fry. And simply because they reasoned as though, when woman was formed, sympathy with suffering, and the desire to perfect human character, had been denied her. So that, as we have just observed, when a woman manifests to the world that she possesses understanding, intellect, and human sympathy, there is great wonderment, as though society and its teachers had no right to look for them in the life, utterances, and action of its female members.

Now, it may be asked, what are the reasons in the nature of things, or in the constitution of woman, which can justify all this wonderment? Do such reasons exist, or are not our notions of woman and her powers at variance with the facts of nature and the results of observation? In what way do these two justify the current ideas? It would be simply absurd to answer the questions in any other way than by plainly stating the fact, that all our

ordinary notions upon the subject are solely based upon our love of authority, and are maintained by our prejudices. In nearly all ages and countries, man has tyrannised over woman, and, in order to justify his conduct unto himself, he has assumed-as an undeniable fact-her inferiority in the world of moral, intellectual, and philosophical power. He has treated her as a child, as a being who is to be led, not by reason, but invariably by feeling and by impulse, and as one who therefore cannot in justice be recognised as his equal; but does man always walk by the light of reason? He condescends to accept her occasionally as a companion, but according to his theory she knows nothing of what interests him most, and is incapable of feeling any sympathy with that which is of immediate importance to society. But far off, in distant ages, and buried in the German forests, our Saxon fathers conceived nobler ideas, and were juster in their dealings with woman. They treated her as a being who by nature was possessed of equal rights with themselves, and endowed her with many privileges which are now totally denied. They gave more and demanded less; but now, having shorn her authority down to the lowest possible point, we demand more from her than was then demanded, and while denying her equality in privileges and liberties, we make her bear her full share of the burden of life. The law never admits any inequality when there is anything to pay, but only when there is something to receive, or some privilege to be enjoyed. A woman is compelled to pay her rates; she is considered to be quite strong enough for that, but not strong enough to say how they should be expended. She must, under penalties, pay her assesments to the Queen, for it is universally acknowledged that she is fully capable of that, and she is to be fleeced by law proceedings if she hesitate, but she must not take part in conducting the affairs for which she has to pay. Not that we would send her to take part at parish boards or in parliamentary debatings, for heaven knows she may be far better employed. Parish boards and Parliaments are now the chief refuges for the destitute, and those who are daily declining in value. Woman, however, is neither, and we only suggest this topic by way of affording room for a protest against the cry relating to her "essential inferiority." It has been raised and carried on by scores and thousands who were never guilty of a noble action, and whose only claim to the name of heroes lay in the fact, that they cried aloud about the weakness of the other sex.

And yet, in sober earnest, there is some reason for what men say of women, though it arises not from any niggardly treatment to which Dame Nature has exposed them. It results from our vicious systems of tuition. At home and at school our girls are treated as though their brains were made of less durable material than the brains of their brothers. Indeed, some physiologist of the antique school, some time ago, suggested that a careful chemical analysis would establish that the matter of which the brain of woman is composed is really different; but although his hint was taken, and the tests were applied, the result was not what he anticipated. What a burst there had been over the world, had this fancy proved to be correct as a fact in science! Nature has been kinder and more just, and the brain of woman can fairly compete with that of her assumed lord and master. There is not a single power or faculty which experience has shown man to possess, that phrenology and observation do not stand forward to show as pertaining to women also. She is possessed of all the instruments, but, unfortunately, she is systematically denied the means of cultivating them; and should it chance that she is favourably placed for obtaining a good practical education, then it but too generally

happens that she is biased by false views of her relations toward, and of her duty in society, which have been diligently impressed upon her mind.

Because, as a rule, woman does not appear to appreciate the value and character of our exciting public questions, we are gravely informed that as a citizen, she is essentially inferior, and cannot be made to comprehend such subjects. But what shall we say of the peasantry and farmers of Norfolk and Suffolk? Their dress, occupation, and mode of locomotion is our only warranty that they are human; and when we endeavour so vainly to enter into conversation. with them about great public questions by the logical method, we ought to conclude that they are essentially inferior, for they seem to be as utterly incapable of understanding and appreciating the value and character of great public questions as any woman we ever knew. We e may as well hope to succeed in impressing a Jerusalem pony with a sense of the subtlety, majesty, and refined delicacy of Handel's Oratorios, as hope to impress a Norfolk peasant with a sense of the philosophy of history, or with a consciousness of the truly grand in statesmanship. They know of oats and hard puddings, of bacon and fallow-fields, but beyond these of nothing more. And why not? Are they physically different from city men? All will answer, No. And all will be equally ready to point out the fact that their low intellectual condition is a result of the non-educatiou and non-exercise of their natural powers. And the same plea holds good with woman-give her fair play, and side by side with city youths or peasant boys, she will establish her right to be rated as man's equal in the intellectual and logical worlds. Let her be treated, while yet in her girlhood, as a being who really possesses a soul, who is capable of comprehending and taking part in promoting the progress of great reforms; and then, when the hour comes wherein she takes her place as man's companion, it will be found that she does not fall short in her power of appreciating, or in her sympathy for, any subject which interests him who has become her husband. Doubtless there are many soft-headed gentlemen who would not feel themselves to be advantaged by the fact that the lady of the house could discuss politics, but no greater blessing could befall such heroes, for she would give them that kind of instruction and guidance necessary for preserving them from uttering the nonsense they now so largely deal in, and thus would save society from the painful infliction.

P. W. P.

STUDIES OF CHURCH HISTORY.-XXVI.

ST. SIMEON STYLITES.

SOME of our readers may probably have heard, at some time or another, one of those missionary orations wherewith, in the merry month of May, Exeter Hall is wont to be instructed by unctuous specimens of the genus man; and, if so, will have it in their recollection how Juggernaut sacrifices, Hindoo widowburning, and other fanatical doings on the part of the "poor benighted heathen," have been denounced with loud and blatant voice by the speakers, and feelingly deplored by the audience. But the history of the Church furnishes us with proof that Christianity has frequently produced morbid religious phenomena of a similar kind; and this especially appears in connection with monasticism. Neander is candid enough to say that in the monk life we are presented with appearances which remind us of the spirit of the self