sea became suddenly calm. Nothing could have more fully proved the completeness of the miracle.

27. What manner of man.—Their very remark showed how weak their faith had been.

SUMMARY.

Our Lord reminded one who professed a readiness to follow him, that he must forsake all if he did so; and bid another to come immediately without waiting to bury his father: he then crossed over the sea of Galilee, and stilled a tempest, rebuking his disciples for their weak faith, and exciting their wonder by the miracle he wrought.

LESSONS.

I. If we would choose Christ's service, we must well consider what it is, and to what it will call us. V. 20. (Luke xiv. 28-33.) II. Christ is to be followed without hesitation or delay. V. 21, 22. (Is. lv. 6.)

III. Difficulties and dangers may overtake the servants of God, even when their Master is with them. V. 24. (Ex. xv. 23.)

IV. The Lord is a sure refuge (even to his weak and erring people) in time of trouble. V. 25, 26. (Ps. xlvi. 1.)

V. If we had more faith, we should have less fear. V. 26. (Dan. iii. 17.)

VI. He who slept as man, had power as God to control the winds and waves, and all creation. V. 24-26. (Job xxxviii. 11.)

ADVENT SUNDAY.

THE DEVILS CAST OUT.

LUKE Viii. 26-39.

(See also Matt. viii. 28-34. and Mark v. 1-20.)

26. The Gadarenes.-Gadara was one of the cities of Decapolis. "The country of the Gergesenes," (Matt. viii. 28.) was a more extensive district, which included Gadara and its neighbourhood.

27. A certain man.-St. Matthew mentions two; probably one was much more forward than the other, and rendering himself more remarkable, is the only one mentioned by St. Mark and St. Luke. In the same way the account of the healing of a blind man near Jericho; St. Matthew speaks of two, and St. Mark and St. Luke only of one. (Compare Matt. xx. 30. Mark x. 46. and Luke xviii. 35.)

In the tombs.-These were often caves.

28. What have I to do with thee?-This was what the evil spirits compelled the man, by the power they had over his body, to speak; and it proves that they knew who Christ was, and dreaded his power.

Before the time.-The day of judgment. (See 2 Peter ii. 4. and Jude 6.)

33. The herd ran violently.—This most distinctly proves that the man was literally possessed by evil spirits, and not, as some have fancied, suffering under some kind of disease or madness. It shows also the malice of these spirits, and perhaps their wicked intent to prejudice the people against our Lord.

34. They that fed them.-The Jews were forbidden to eat swine's flesh; (Lev. xi. 7.) it was therefore a just punishment to these people to allow their property to be destroyed.

37. Besought him to depart.-He did as they asked him, and we never read of his going there again!

38. That he might be with him.—Mark how different his feelings were from those of the Gadarenes : he desired to be with Christ, they to have him go from them; yet his request was not granted, as there was a work for him to do at home.

SUMMARY.

On arriving at the other side of the Sea of Galilee, Jesus met with a man possessed with devils: these he cast out from the man, and, at their own request, allowed to enter into a herd of swine. The people of the country came at the report, and asked Jesus to depart, which he did, after first charging the man to go to his own relations and make known to them the mercy he had received.

LESSONS.

I. How wretched are those who are led captive by the devil at his will! V. 27, 29. He exercises as strong an influence over the soul now, as he did over the body of this poor man. (2 Tim. ii. 26.)

II. The devil and his servants both hate and fear the Lord Jesus Christ. V. 28. (Luke xix. 14.)

III. God often makes the sin in which men are indulging to become the means of their punishment. V. 32, 33. (Jer. ii. 19.) IV. How great are the power and mercy of the Saviour! and how complete the change in those on whose behalf he interferes ! V. 35. (Acts xvi. 33.)

V. It is a fearful thing when any are led by the love of worldly gain, or any other cherished lust, to wish the Saviour to depart from them. V. 37. (Psalm lxxxi. 11, 12.)

VI. The soul that has felt Christ's power, will long to be near him. V. 38. (John vi. 67-69.)

VII. God does not always see right to grant us even what we ask from right motives. V. 39. (2 Cor. xii. 8, 9.)

ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.

EGYPTIAN MEALS.

THE Egyptians are very hospitable in inviting strangers to eat with them. A round tray of tinned copper, or sometimes of brass, serves as a table, being placed upon a stool about fifteen inches high. If the party be numerous, the tray is placed in the middle of the room, and they sit round it, with one knee on the ground, and the other (the right) raised; and in this manner as many as twelve may sit round a tray three feet wide. Each person bares his right arm to the elbow, or tucks up the hanging end of his sleeve. Before he begins to eat, he says, "In the name of God." In allusion to a similar custom, St. Paul may have exhorted Christians to do all things in the name of the Lord Jesus. This is generally said in a low but audible voice, and by the master of the house first; and is both a grace and an invitation to partake of the meal. The master of the house first begins to eat, and the guests follow his example. Neither knives nor forks are used, but the thumb and two fingers of the right hand serve instead; but spoons are served for soup or rice, and both hands may be used in particular cases. When there are several dishes upon the tray, each person takes of any that he likes, or of every one in succession; when only one dish is placed on the tray at a time, each takes from it a few mouthfuls, and it is quickly removed to make place for another. To pick out a delicate morsel and hand it to a friend is esteemed polite. This manner of eating with the fingers is more delicate than may be imagined by those who have not witnessed it. Each person breaks off a small piece of bread, dips it in the dish, and then conveys it to his mouth, together with a small portion of the meat, or other contents of the dish; or he merely sops his morsel of bread in the dish. The piece of bread is generally doubled together, so as to enclose the morsel of meat, &c., and only the thumb and the first and second fingers are commonly used. When Mr. Morier was in Persia, himself and his friends were invited to an entertainment, by one of the chief men of the state. He writes,-"On the day appointed, as is usual in Persia, a messenger came to us about five o'clock in the evening, to hid us to the feast. I might make use of Scriptural language to commence my narration: A certain man made a great supper, and bade many: and sent his servant at supper-time to say to them that were bidden, Come, for all things are now ready.' The difficulty which infidels have made to the passage, of which this is the commencement, arises from the apparent harshness of asking people to an entertain

ment, and giving them no option,-by punishing them, in fact, for their refusal. Whereas all the guests to whom, when the supper was ready, the servant was sent had already accepted the invitation, and were therefore already pledged to appear at the feast at the hour when they might be summoned. They were not taken unprepared, and could not, in consistency or decency, plead any prior engagement. On alighting at the house, we were conducted through mean and obscure passages, to a small square court, surrounded by apartments, which were the habitations of the women, who had been dislodged on the occasion; and as we entered into a low room, we there found our host waiting for us, with about a dozen more of his friends. The ambassador (from England, whom Mr. Morier accompanied) was placed in the corner of honour, near the window, and the host next to him, on his left hand. The other guests were arranged around the room, according to their respective ranks.... -When a Persian enters an assembly, after having left his shoes without, he makes the usual salutation of 'Peace be unto you,' which is addressed to the whole assembly, as it were saluting the house, and then measuring with his eye the degree of rank to which he holds himself entitled, he straightway wedges himself into the line of guests, without offering any apology for the general disturbance which he produces. It may be conceived that, among a vain people, the disputes which arise on matters of precedence are numerous; and it was easy to observe, by the countenance of those present, when any one had taken a higher seat than that to which he was entitled. The Persian scribes are remarkable for their arrogance in this respect; and bring to mind the caution that our Saviour gave to the Jews against their scribes, whom, among other things, he characterises as loving 'the uppermost rooms at feasts.' The master of the entertainment has, however, the privilege of placing any one as high in the ranks of the assembly as he may choose, and we saw an instance of it on this occasion; for, when the assembly was nearly full, the Governor of Kashan, a man of humble mien, though of considerable rank, came in, and had seated himself at the lowest place, when the host, after having testified his particular attentions to him by numerous expressions of welcome, pointed with his hand to an upper seat in the assembly, to which he desired him to move, which he accordingly did. What a strong analogy is here between the manners of the Jews and those of the Persians!-Manners and Customs in the East.

CHURCH SERVICE.

THE LITURGY NOT POPISH.

(From Biddulph's Practical Essays.)

"It has been objected," says a late writer on ecclesiastical history, "that the Liturgy or Common Prayers were chiefly taken from the offices of the Church of Rome." This is become a pretty general opinion; but assuredly unfounded. For the agreement between some parts of our public service and some parts of the Romish missals, is far from proving the point. We use the Lord's Prayer (for example) in common with the Papists: yet we receive it, not from Rome, but from the New Testament. A pen not altogether contemptible affirms that the compilers of the Liturgy examined not only the Popish forms, but likewise "all other service-books then in use. These they compared with the primitive liturgies: and whatever they found in them consonant to the Holy Scriptures, and the doctrine and worship of the primitive church, they retained and improved; but the modern corruptions and superstitious innovations of later ages, they entirely discharged and rejected."See Downes's Lives of the Compilers. To this may be added, the following observations from an authority incomparably more decicive and respectable. "Our Church of England," says Bishop Stillingfleet, "hath omitted none of those offices in which all the ancient churches were agreed: and where the [primitive] British or Gallican [church] differed from the Roman, our [present] church hath not followed the Roman, but the other. And therefore our dissenters do unreasonably charge us with taking our offices from the Church of Rome."-Stillingfleet's Origines Brittannica. The Gallican liturgy (extremely different from the Roman) was introduced, it seems, into England, in the beginning of the fifth century, and is said to have been originally framed by Polycarp and Irenæus. The learned bishop gives a large account of this ancient form of worship; proves it to have been the basis of that now established, and points out a great variety of particulars, in which it differed from the form imposed by the Roman bishops.

SPIRITUALITY OF THE LITURGY.

THE spirituality of our Liturgy is another of its excellencies. Nothing is to be found therein to satisfy the conscience of the formalist and pharisee; but, on the contrary, everything that is calculated to awaken attention to the necessity of the worship of the heart, of communion with God, and real delight in his service. Herein we