Imágenes de página
PDF
ePub

quality of the goods; secondly, the measure by which they are to be dealt out to him; and lastly, the price he will have to pay for them. The traveller might see, perhaps, a poor woman, with her pittance of money, viewing the rice that was displayed for sale in baskets, and scanning with her eye the cocoa-nut shell, which lay ready in the midst of the grain. After much inspection she would at last make up her mind to buy of a certain dealer; but he, contrary to her expectation, would not perhaps fill the shell full. She complains, and he throws down the shell in a passion, and she is obliged to commence her negotiations elsewhere.

In China, a country wherein the principles of traffic are thoroughly understood, the highest degree of attention is paid to the state of the balance and measure. Spanish dollars, which form the chief part of the silver currency, are always weighed by a delicate sort of steelyard, kept for that purpose, and if they fall short, the deficiency is estimated and discounted accordingly. This steelyard for money deserves a particular mention. The beam is made of ivory, and tapers to a point upon the longer arm. This arm is finely graduated with black lines, and is about a foot in length. The weight that slides upon it, is made of metal, and suspended by a bit of silk. The scale at the other end is round, and manufactured of a thin piece of brass. It is just large enough to hold a dollar, and is also suspended by three silken threads. A case made of bamboo just affords room enough for this apparatus, and it is of so portable a character, that it might be carried in the pocket of an outer garment were that receptacle made a little deeper than ordinary, for its reception.

The steelyard is used also for other things of a more gross and less valuable character. The meat, fish, and vegetables, that are hawked about the streets are weighed by an instrument of this sort, and so anxious is the buyer to guard against imposition, that he sees the goods weighed by one of his own, after the price is agreed upon. The furniture of a shop is often of cheap material and of rude workmanship, as many are too poor to study appearances. To this plainness, however, the steelyard always forms a contrast, by the finish and beauty of its workmanship. In a valley upon an island not far from Macao, a water mill was erected, within the last few years, by a man of some enterprise among the natives. The machinery was very

[ocr errors]

simple in principle and very rude in execution, so that, while the eye found nothing to be pleased with, the ear was stunned with the racket of the wheels. Amidst so much apparent inattention to neatness, the sight falls delighted upon the large beam of the steelyard used for weighing the wheat and the meal. This is formed of hard wood, resembling our apple-tree in colour and density, highly polished, and graduated by many a row of delicate brass studs, with such ornaments of the same as contributed most to the elegance of the joint effect. The owner had a regard to economy as appeared from the plainness of his whole establishment, but he knew that unless the aspect of his steelyard inspired confidence, his customers would not be satisfied.

The Chinese reason as we do about our mathematical instruments; the higher in finish the more exact they are deemed to be, as no workman would bestow much time and skill upon that which might turn out upon trial to be worth nothing at all. No Chinese artist would toil several days in the making of a beam, which should, after all his pains, be incorrect. As to moral honesty in China it may not attain a higher eminence than it does in other countries; but correctness in dealing is secured by frequent appeals to that umpire the balance, and by that sharpness with which every man looks to the manner in which a transaction is conducted.

In the time of Job this arbitrator of disputes, the balance, was well known, and to this he declares he would gladly refer himself, that the amount of his sufferings might be ascertained. Friends may heave a sigh at our calamities, or even endeavour to scan the measure of our griefs, but their conjectures will fall far short, for the heart only knoweth its own bitterness. How often have we sought for sympathy by telling the story of our sorrows, but we found it not, even where we felt we had a right to expect it. God alone can estimate the amount of our affliction, and to him the heart should unburden itself in the delightful exercise of prayer. Job reasoned sometimes with his friends, at others he entreated them to a merciful consideration of his case by a reference to all the sad circumstances which surrounded him on every side, but he utterly failed; for though he silenced three out of the four, he could not obtain one drop of pity from any of them. We may sometimes obtain counsel and Christian sympathy from those who happen to have

travelled in the same road with ourselves, but God in Christ is the last depository of our secrets, the wisest Counsellor and the most compassionate Friend.

[ocr errors]

"A false balance is abomination to the Lord but a just weight is his delight, Prov. xi. 1.-God is a lover of justice, and therefore he delights in those things that are emblematic of it. The balance first taught man the principles of commutative justice in detail, and we may still bring the idea of this virtue in the abstract home to the minds of our children by referring them to the balance, when the ends of the beam are in equipoise, or to the measure when the grain has been swept level by the strike or meting rod. Justice consists in giving to every man his due: upon this maxim all legislation ought to proceed, as Cicero labours to show in his first book of laws. God claims the right of being considered as the sole proprietor of justice. "A just weight and balance are the LORD's all the weights of the bag are his work," Prov, xvi. 11. God dealeth with kings according to the justice of the balance. "Tekel [weighing]; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting," Dan. v. 27.

"And he shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness," Isa. xxxiv. 11.-This imports that the land of Idumea should be delivered over into the hands of confusion and emptiness by an act of solemn and deliberate appointment; that chance, accident, and contingency should have nothing to do with either the time or measure of the judgment to be inflicted upon the sons of Edom. For the line was the emblem of mensuration, and the stones the symbols of weight. Stones were used by the Jews in preparing their weight, instead of lead, iron, or any other metal. The Chinese still employ the same material in the manufacture of all their heavier kinds of weight. The stone weight they use is nearly hemispheric in its form, smooth, and provided with an eye at the top cut out of the same material. simple as simplicity could make it.

It is as

[ocr errors]

"Re

derstand the original term as pointing to
that state of the beam, where the two things
weighed exactly counterbalance each other.
And this view of the passage is justified
by what occurs, Rev. xviii. 6,
ward her even as she rewarded you, and
double unto her double," for to double
plainly means in the context to reward or
repay to another an equivalent for the
injury done. As "an eye for an eye, and a
tooth for a tooth." And of this lex talionis,
or law of retribution, the balance was an
appropriate representative, and hence,
among the Romans, the balance was pre-
sent as a matter of form in all contracts.
The balance was consequently a practical
sign of payment, since before coin was
stamped, money was weighed and not
counted. And thus we find Abraham
weighing four hundred shekels of silver
“current,” that is, of the standard purity,
"with the merchant." And to this day, as
was hinted before, the Chinese weigh the
money; though it be stamped, they trust
to the balance, instead of relying upon the
authority of the image and superscription.
G. T. L.

OLD HUMPHREY ON STRONG

EMOTIONS.

THERE are some who pass through the changing scenes of life with the same moderate excitement as that with which they go through the changing seasons of the year. They feel joy, and experience sorrow, but their emotions are not strong, and rarely is a tear of rapture or grief seen glittering in their eyes. This is no doubt the case with by far the greater part of mankind.

There are others of a more susceptible sort, more tremblingly alive to the touch of pleasure and pain, of joy and grief, and these manifest stronger emotions. Whether it be an advantage or the contrary, to possess keen sensibility and strong emotions, is a question on which different opinions are entertained; but all will perhaps agree in this, that strong feelings should ever be subject to strong For she hath received of the LORD's control. For myself, I am subject to hand double for all her sins," Isa. xl. 2. strong excitement; let me question how -God is expressly said to have debated it is with you. I will try you on many with his people by measure. "In mea-points. Should you ask me what advansure, when it shooteth forth, thou wilt debate with it," Isa. xxvii. 8, which scarcely agrees with the idea conveyed by a double recompense. It seems better to render double by an equivalent, and to un

tages will be derived from my questionings, it may be, that I shall hardly be prepared with an answer; but it suits the feeling of the moment; and therefore, as I wish at one time or other, to

have a word with all kinds of readers, let an old man have his way.

Have you, with mysterious joy, held communion with the elements, walked abroad with the winds, and gazed on the glowing creation, as on the gift of God? Have you looked on a leaf and a flower, until your heart has leaped with transport? Have you fixed your enraptured eyes on the silvery clouds of heaven till they appeared to be angels' thrones ranged round the celestial sanctuary of the Eternal? Have you listened to the blustering blast whirling through the forest trees, till it has seemed laden with mysterious and dear delight? Has your bosom heaved with undefinable sublimity, when the brooding tempest has hovered in the heavens till you have yearned for the climax, the descending deluge, the earth-shaking roar of the thunder, and the soul-arresting fiery flash of the living lightning?

Have you, afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted," burdened with care, and bowed down with a sense of your unworthiness, ever opened the word of God, yearning after consolation, as the hart thirsteth after the water brooks? And have you ever, in such a case, found the words of eternal life as balm and wine to you? oil to your joints and marrow to your bones?

Have you known the agony of a parting moment, bending a lingering gaze on some loved object, dearer than all the earth besides, about to bid you farewell for years? Have you caught the last look, and followed the fading form, until dimly descried, it has at last disappeared in the distance, leaving you

"Alone! alone! all, all alone!"

in a cold and cheerless world, reft of joy,

and refusing to be comforted?

Have you walked abroad when the all glorious sun has shined, not on your path only, but into your soul, when careering, like a conquering king, in his flaming chariot, gorgeously attired in purple and gold, your mind has been filled with transport? and you have clasped your hands together, and lifted up your heart to his and your adorable Creator, with emotions which words could not express? Have you gazed on the moon and stars, till the beauty and immensity of God's glowing creation has filled to overflowing the measures of your joy, and have the words been wrung from your heart, "O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall show forth thy praise?"

Have you known trouble until the earth has appeared brass, and the heavens iron? Have you felt so utterly destitute as to be in love with calamity, willingly hardening your heart, and sternly determining to suppress every emotion? And have you, with all the contrition, humility, and simplicity of a child committed your ways to the High and Holy One that he might direct your paths?

Have you felt in your bosom envy, hatred, malice, and all uncharitableness? Has your heart glowed with affection for mankind, and have you looked around you to do a deed of kindness? improving all your own means, and longing for wealth and power that you might scatter happiness far and near?

Have you, in your Christian pilgrimage, been shut up in Doubting Castle, calling in question the plainest truths, tempted in your own heart to say with the fool, "There is no God!" And have you known such a flood of faith to come over you, that you could have laid down your life, yea played the man in the fire," to bear testimony to the truth of the ever blessed gospel of Jesus Christ?

[ocr errors]

If you have known these things, you are no stranger to strong emotions, and will agree with me, that they ought ever to be placed under strong control. I have, as it were, but just entered on my subject; you may, perhaps, pursue it with some advantage.

GOD THE FATHER OF HIS PEOPLE. It is this filial sentiment, the peculiarity of Christian piety, which brightens the enjoyments of life, even the most common of them, with a sense that, in our obscure homes, we are sitting, from

day to day, at the board which our heavenly Father has spread. It is this feeling which mitigates and sanctifies affliction; wherein, even when the sharpest,

we discern a token of the truth that God is " dealing with us as with sons," and is, in fact, preparing us for our home. It is this same affection, the distinct filial sentiment, which dispels the terrors of death; while the Christian believes that ber of his family from a less to a more the Father of spirits is removing a memdesirable abode.-Isaac Taylor.

WAR.

THE existence of war always implies injustice in one, at least, of the parties concerned. Robert Hall.

[graphic][ocr errors]

ENGLISH HISTORY. CHARLES I.

Old Somerset House.

IN Scotland things were brought to a crisis sooner than in England, or Ireland. Attempts had been made to intimidate and subdue all who opposed the royal prerogative; but the people were not brought to submit to the measures pursued. The first matter on which the royal advisers came into collision with the people, was of a nature most warmly to excite the universal popular feelingthe enforcement of a new system of ecclesiastical laws, and new forms for public worship, and these very different from what their forefathers had with so much difficulty succeeded in establishing. It was the English Liturgy, with some additions and variations leaning towards Popery. The new laws were promulgated some time before the new service; the first reading of the latter, at the high church in Edinburgh, was followed by a popular outbreak, in which the females took a prominent part. One Janet Geddes threw a stool at the head of the dean, who was reader; another was aimed at the bishop, nor could the service proceed till a large part of the congregation, who joined in these disgracefully riotous proceedings, had been forced to leave the church. On his departure, the bishop was rolled in the mire, and the outrages were only repressed by force. This was in July 1637.

SEPTEMBER, 1842.

a

The king's ministers, in Scotland, well knew the deep-rooted feelings of their countrymen on matters of religion, and were unwilling to press forward; but the king was unmoved, the unpopular measures were enforced, and riots ensued. The opponents were, at length, allowed to state their objections; they arranged plan, for obtaining the general opinion by committees of representatives, chosen by four classes, the nobility, the landed gentry, the clergy, and the burghers, from which one of each was appointed to form a fifth board. These representative bodies were called tables, and they demanded that the obnoxious proceedings should be relinquished. After some weeks, the tables were declared unlawful; but the members refused to obey. A public engagement was proposed, which is generally known as "the solemn league and covenant," and this was promulgated with the observance of a solemn fast, on March 1, 1638. The king, with the advice of some whom he consulted in Scottish affairs, determined, by force, to do away with the covenant; but preparatory to this, the marquis of Hamilton was sent to negotiate, and even to give up the canons and service book, the high commission court, and some other matters but the new covenant was still required to be laid aside. The king had not consulted his English council, till the attempt of the marquis of Hamilton

2 c

failed. Laud then urged pacific mea- the peers, each with his retinue, were sures for a time, but the majority of ordered to join the king at York; the the council adopted the views of the king. clergy and lawyers were called to give Some months earlier, the king's conces- money in lieu of personal service; while sions would have been thankfully accepted, the queen used her influence with the but it was evident they were only extort- leading Papists, to obtain contributions in ed by opposition, and the monarch's in- | return for the indulgences recently grantsincerity was now generally known. In ed to them; but the mass of the nation this case, some of his counsellors informed were indifferent, and even averse to the the leaders of the covenanters that the king's proceedings. The Scottish coking only designed to lull them into a venanters answered the royal proclamafalse security, till his preparations for en- tions, which declared them rebels, by forcing compliance were completed. In protestations of their loyalty, adding, that England also, many who opposed the they only resisted encroachments on their regal proceedings, encouraged the Scots religious liberties. to refuse compliance.

The king ordered an assembly of the kirk to meet in November, 1638; he expected some events which might justify his forcible interference. The commissioners finding the determined opposition of the members, acted according to his instructions, and dissolved the assembly; but they refused to disperse, condemned the sovereign's conduct, and abolished episcopacy; the nation united in public thanksgiving for deliverance; but the king of course looked upon these transactions as null and void. He was now preparing forces; the covenanters did the same, availing themselves of the services of Leslie, who had risen to be a field marshal abroad in the service of Gustavus, but had lately retired to his native land, with considerable property. Many officers, who had been in the same service, hastened to Scotland; arms and ammunition were procured from Holland; one hundred thousand crowns were sent from France by cardinal Richelieu, whose policy led him to oppose the wishes of the English king. This pecuniary aid was kept secret, for many would have refused help from such a polluted source, which was evidently given only with the worst intentions; but the leaders received it, showing how far men may blindly proceed. These open measures against the king, and seeking aid from foreign powers, must be regarded as preliminaries of those general hostilities which so speedily followed, and involved the three kingdoms in civil warfare, which extended to consequences the original promoters on both sides had not foreseen. The king, on the other hand, negotiated for the assistance of Spanish troops; but they could not be spared, though he offered to allow the king of Spain to raise men every year in Ireland. The trained bands of several counties were mustered;

On both sides, the result was now unavoidable. The covenanters occupied the castle of Edinburgh, and other strong places; having seized Dumbarton on the sabbath, notwithstanding their strict observance of that day. The supporters of Charles, in Scotland, were unsuccessful in making head against their countrymen ; but the king advanced from York with his army, while the Scots prepared to meet him, Leslie having twenty thousand men, earnest in their cause, well disciplined, strict in their religious services, and many of them devout in their feelings. This was in May, 1639.

Many gentry attended the rendezvous at York, but they were attended by servants and other followers, rather than disciplined soldiers; while the number of clergy, who resorted to the court and camp, gave occasion to a popular feeling, that this was a war chiefly for enforcing ecclesiastical proceedings.

The royal forces were the most numerous, but a large proportion disapproved of the monarch's plans, and cared not to enforce them. The first time the advanced troops came in sight of each other, the English retired, and Leslie prepared to attack the main body. The king was alarmed; by the agency of a page, the possibility of an agreement was suggested, and commissioners were sent from the Scottish camp. Charles consented to refer all matters of religion to a general assembly, and civil matters to the parliament; his promises were not considered full and satisfactory; but many of the covenanters were unwilling to engage in actual hostilities, if they could possibly be avoided. The leaders consented to a pacification, and the forces, on both sides, retired, and were disbanded; the strongholds were restored to the king, but it was evident that no real peace was likely to follow; both parties only proposed to

« AnteriorContinuar »