THE CHRISTIAN TREASURY. HOW TO ENJOY LIFE. BY THE REV. G. B. CHEEVER, D.D. 241 "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls." THE secret of enjoying life lies here. The meek truly inherit or possess the earth. They have all the good the earth can afford in the highest degree. Those who would have rest and contentment of soul, let them be meek and lowly in heart as Christ was. But men will not believe this. Hence again and again is the old strife renewed to be happy in some other way. Multitudes press into the race of ambition. Multitudes toil for wealth. Those who have wealth in possession run the round of worldly fashion, pleasure, and dissipation. And yet all are disappointed. Ambition is rarely successful, and never satisfied. The love of money becomes more insatiable by indulgence. Worldly pleasure is a mad intoxication, which experiences the most intense sense of want when the power of enjoyment is exhausted. But how do the meek inherit the earth? The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof. Whatever adaptation, therefore, it possesses to the wants of man, God has given it. The soul of man is God's work. Whatever capacity of enjoyment, therefore, it possesses, God has given it. It is evident then, that, in order to enjoy life, we must use the things of this life as God intended them to be used, and use our souls according to their divinely constituted capacity. That we can be happy at all, is owing to the divine constitution of the soul and its objects; and so, in order to be happy, we must obey this constitution. If we would see, we must use our eyes in relation to the light according to the laws of light and vision. If we would have taste and smell, we must do the same in regard to the organs and objects of these sensations. If we would be nourished and enjoy health, we must obey the laws of our physical being. All this every one at once admits. But the same must be true in respect to our whole being-in respect to the spiritual, no less than in respect to the physical. Now, meekness expresses just that state of mind when we are disposed to use our souls, in their earthly relations, in strict accordance with the law appointed by him who made the soul. And it is by no means difficult to see how meekness must work out our highest good in this world. A definition of this virtue will bring the whole clearly before us. What is meekness? It is, first of all, a childlike submission of one's self into the hands of God's providence. We are, indeed, to act according to our best foresight and energy. But we know full well there are in every sphere of life numerous contingencies against which we cannot provide. Notwithstanding all our endeavours, things turn out very differently from our expectations. While we would have the course of life go on in our way, we find there is a power above which orders it another way. Now, most men fret against these inevitable dispensations; and as human life is filled with such experiences, they are kept in a constant state of discontent; they are always sailing against wind and tide. But the meek man, having done all that duty demands, quietly leaves the event in the hands of the overruling Providence. He wisely reflects, that to indulge in fretfulness and discontent would not alter the dispensations of Providence, and would only serve to make himself miserable, and indeed disqualify him for availing himself of favourable occasions as they might open to him. But more than this, distrusting his own wisdom and foresight, he rejoices to let God take his wise and glorious way. He cheerfully yields his own designs and wishes to the determinations of infinite wisdom and goodness. He is willing to be led by a divine and gracious hand through the darkness. Meek and lowly like a little child, and full of truthfulness like a little child, it is to him the source of sweet content and perfect satisfaction, that God is guiding and governing him and all things around him. Who then inherits the earth-he who is ever struggling with the divine Providence, or he who, yielding to it, feels that he is kindly and securely carried along in the best possible way? Again, as meekness is submission to God, so likewise it is forbearance and patience towards man. Our fellow-men, in all the relations in which we stand to them, are prone to disappoint our just expectations. We often also meet with opposition, injury, and enmity, tempting us to indulge in anger, to return injury for injury in the spirit of revenge, and to enter into an active conflict for the mastery. By such a course we are led into painful distrust, into endless disputes, enmity becomes more malignant, opposition more violent, and revenge more bitter. It is easy thus to consume life in vain and tormenting struggles. The meek man, on the contrary, elevates himself above this stormy region, and dwells in perpetual peace. He looks with an eye of pity and charity upon the weaknesses and obliquities of men, and ever reflects how much more the divine forbearance is tried than his own possibly can be. If God is patient with man, shall not man be patient with his fellow man? Hence he subdues enmity with kindness, allays opposition by forbearing to oppose, and meets injury with forgiveness. By refusing to yield to irritation and anger, he escapes from the annoyances of human passion, and often enjoys the satisfaction of melting an enemy into a friend, and converting a sinner from the error of his ways. A false spirit of honour and pride often leads men to breast the storm of passion, so that they are soiled and rent by its violence. The meek man, by yielding to the storm, escapes its violence, and, allowing it to expand its force, soon enjoys returning sunshine. Who, then, inherits the earth-he who is always in a state of agitation and conflict, or he who, possessing his soul in patience, enjoys the consciousness of perpetual peace, and of a kind and loving spirit, which it is not in the power of others to turn from its serene and heavenward way? There is nothing perhaps which causes more unhappiness in the world than jealousy, envy, pride, and vain ambition. Thus men lose the sense of their own positive blessings in dwelling upon the advantages of others, in repining over the want of that which has not been allotted to them, and in vain endeavours to emulate conditions which are out of their reach. But the meek man, resigned to his lot, is relieved from all this; and hence he is prepared to estimate the blessings he really possesses, to put them to the best account, and to enjoy them to the full. That is a beautiful expression of Scripture-"the meekness of wisdom," or "a wise meekness;" for meekness is the highest wisdom and prudence of life. Indeed, the law of meekness is that alone which can direct our human life to the attainment of its proper ends and enjoyments. Without it, it is impossible to inherit the earth. As we cannot escape from an overruling Providence, so our highest wisdom is by a meek submission to make it our best friend. As we cannot escape from human relations, so our highest wisdom is by meekness to harmonize them to ourselves. As we are continually prone to inordinate desires and passions, so again our highest wisdom is, by meekness, to reduce them to the measure of gentleness, love, and well-doing. Think not that this meekness is mean and servile. On the contrary, it is a prime element of dignity of character. It elevates the human to the divine. He who was on earth in the form of man, meek and lowly in heart, spoke with divine authority, and wielded the powers of omnipotence. What the world calls great and noble, it frowns upon, only to bring to light the true nobility and greatness of the soul. To sit at the feet of God is not to hold a mean place—! archangels sit there. To be a spirit of gentleness, peace, and love among men, is not mean; for it is to perform the office of ministering heavenly spirits. It is easy to yield to passion, and to be turbulent, fierce, and overbearingso is the wild beast of the forest. To exercise forbearance towards weak, passionate mortals, is a divine attribute. To withdraw from pride, folly, and vanity, is to ascend nearer to heaven. The soul, purified by meekness from grovelling tendencies and earthly habitudes, is prepared to behold, with clear vision, all the beauty and good that is in the world. Such a soul only fulfils the rational conditions of real blessedness. It lays aside nothing but what would mar its own beauty, and disturb the good of others. It puts off a cumbrous, crude, earthly armour, to be clothed with the whole armour of God. It disrobes itself of false adornments, to appear as a child of light. There is not a high gift of the intellect and spirit but what it may claim as its own. There is no duty demanding wisdom, courage, firmness, patience, perseverance, generosity, and benevolence, but what it is prepared to perform. It is so truly and intrinsically great and excellent, that it needs no hypocritical pretensions, no boasting, no ambitious displays. In the consciousness of what it is in itself by God's grace, it is simply willing to be itself, and to live its proper life. It is meek in the majesty of its truthfulness, sincerity, and goodness. ROMANISM IN MALTA AND SICILY. ROMANISM IN MALTA AND SICILY. MALTA, Feb. 10, 1849. ANNIVERSARY OF THE SHIPWRECK OF ST PAUL. THIS is the day appointed by the Pope as the anniversary of the shipwreck of the Apostle Paul. How any body can tell on what day this event took place is more than I know, but I feel no hesitation in saying that it could not have taken place on the 10th of February; for the sacred historian, who was a companion with Paul at the time, says, that "after three months they departed in a ship of Alexandria which had wintered in the isle." No one can believe that a vessel would be detained by the winter in Malta until the 10th of May! But the decision of an infallible Pope is sufficient to settle all such questions with faithful Romanists. 243 later than was at first intended. They have many priestly processions in Malta in the course of the year; but it is said, that this in honour of St Paul exceeds all the rest in magnitude and grandeur of display. It must have been several miles in length, and consisted of all the different orders of priests and monks to be found in Valetta and the suburbs, Dominicans, Franciscans, Capuchins, Jesuits, Augustinians, Priests, Deacons, and Friars; and last, not least, the Bishop himself: all in their distinctive dresses, and each particular rank preceded by a large silken banner, carried aloft upon a long and richly ornamented silver pole. There were also crucifixes, lanterns, and candies without number. After the Bishop came the swarthy image of the Apostle, mentioned above, borne on the shoulders of eight men, who staggered under the load. The procession started from the church of St Paul, and proceeding nearly to one extremity of the street crossed over to the Strada Reale (Royal Street), through nearly the whole length of which it passed, and then, crossing back again to the street of St Paul, it returned to the As might be supposed, this anniversary is celebrated with very special observances in Malta. There is in Valetta a street called St Paolo, and in this street there is a church dedicated to the Apostle Paul. Nearly or quite a week ago, I noticed that preparations were being made for a grand illumina-church. The crowds of people that thronged the tion throughout nearly the whole length of this long street. Posts were planted on both sides, with iron arms for supporting bowls filled with oil for lamps, eight or ten on a post, and on each was a representation of flames and a viper coming out of them. The street traverses a deep valley, and the church is situated near the bottom of it. Wooden arches were erected on the top of the hill, on either side, upon which innumerable lamps were tastefully arranged, and historical paintings were also hung up, illustrative of events connected with the apostle's shipwreck. Yesterday evening the celebration commenced. The whole street was brilliantly lighted, and especially the front of the church itself, which was completely covered with lamps, besides a number of large and splendid chandeliers, and a broad and bright flame going forth from the very top of the cupola. A band of music was going back and forth through the street as fast as one of the densest crowds I ever saw, would permit. This morning I went to the church, which I found so crammed with people that there was no room to enter more than a very few feet from the door. The altar, and the walls on either side were covered with burning candles although it was near midday; and so also was a wooden image of the Apostle, standing in a preaching attitude on one side, larger than life. This image was painted and gilded in the most tawdry manner, and was fastened to a broad wooden platform, upon which, I ascertained, it was to be carried through the streets in procession in the afternoon. The governor of the island, who is an Irishman and a Roman Catholic, I found was present on this occasion, and there appeared to be about as much honour showed to him as to the Apostle Paul. The hour appointed for the procession was two o'clock P. M., but a copious rain interfered with the arrangement, and for a while it was reported that the display would be deferred until to-morrow. turning fair weather however encouraged the priests to proceed with their begun work, though two hours Re whole way, uncovered their heads when the image passed, as they did before each crucifix; and I observed that, whenever the image-bearers came to a church, they stopped, and planted the wooden representative of Paul directly in front, with his face turned towards the door, and his hand outstretched; and there they left him for five minutes or more, as it were to deliver some apostolic message to the stone pile before him! After seeing as much as I wished and more of the procession in Strada Reale, I hurried down to the foot of the valley in Strada St Paolo, to witness the return of the image to the church, which I was told was the most see-able part of the show. I found the whole of that street literally crammed with people, and yet the procession did manage to pass along, though very slowly. The appearance of the wooden apostle under the arch on the top of the hill on its return, was the signal for a general shout among the crowd. The arches and the whole street were lighted up with candles, although the sun was yet above the horizon. A motley throng proceeded down the street in front of the image, bowing before it, waving handkerchiefs and hats most furiously, and shouting and screaming at the very top of their voices. And as they approached the church, men were stationed at the windows and on the top, even as high as the very steeple itself, to wave handkerchiefs and burn candles towards the image. I am persuaded that for vulgarity, stupidity, blind infatuation, and wild and noisy devotion, scarcely any thing worse can be found even in India itself. Poor Paul! how would his spirit be stirred within him, and his very soul loathe such idolatrous homage, were he now in this island witnessing these scenes! I remember, when once the people of a certain place sought to do religious homage to him, how he rent his garments, and ran in among them and besought them to desist, declaring at the same time that one especial object of his mission was to persuade them to "turn from these vanities unto the living God." They were heathen people and idolaters by profession; but how much more would such acts excite the indignation of the apostle, coming as they do from those who profess to be the disciples of Christ! This is the Christianity of Rome, and thus the people are taught and commanded to do; and, what is more, whoever objects to such idolatry, and refuses to join in it, is branded as a heretic and sent to perdition! Who believes this? THE FEAST OF ST PUBLIUS. There is another feast whose celebration I have witnessed, which I think must be peculiar to Malta. It is the feast of St Publius! It may be new to your readers, as it was to me, that Publius, who was the "chief man of the island" when Paul was here, and who received the Apostle and "lodged him courteously ""for three days," and whose father Paul miraculously healed, that this same Publius, of whose conversion even not a word is found in the sacred writings, afterwards became a bishop, and in time of persecution was carried to Rome, where he was martyred, being thrown among the lions! There is a church in Florian, a suburb of Valetta, dedicated to St Publius, and there is an annual festival in honour of the Saint, at which many things are done for the amusement of the good people of Florian and Valetta, for which they doubtless pay the priests something of an equivalent, as people are wont to pay for amusements in other countries. On the evening before the day there was a grand exhibition of fire-works in a large open space in front of the church, at which tens of thousands of people were present, though probably not one of them could tell what benefit or honour to Publius it was, to send off rockets, and make a display of wheels and trees and serpents of fire, with the usual acompaniments of squibs and popguns. On the following day a grand procession of priests and monks paraded about the streets of Florian, bearing a huge wooden image of this saint with a ferocious looking lion by his side, represented in the very act of seizing upon its victim. The curiosity of it was, that Publius was gorgeously dressed in full episcopal robes, with mitre upon his head, as though he had been dressed in this costume, and thus thrown, by his heathen persecutors, into the amphitheatre with the lions. On the occasion of this feast, a new bell, of a large size, was added to a half a dozen others already hanging in the tower of Publius's church, and as usual there was a solemn baptismal ceremony performed over the bell before it was raised to its place. AN ALTAR PRIVILEGED TO RELEASE FROM PURGATORY. I have already given you several inscriptions I have found in Malta, illustrative of the true spirit of Romanism, and if you will not tire, I will give you one more, which I copied from the side of the great altar in the church of St Barbara. It is in Latin as follows: D. O. M. ARAM ISTAM INDULGENTE PIO VI. PONTIFICE MAXIMO ANIMAS VINDICANDI AB IGNO PIACULARI A BEAULIEU COMMENDATARIUS Of which I offer the following translation: This altar, honoured by the indulgent High Priest Pius the 6th with the eternal privilege of releasing souls from the expiatory fire, through the performance of sacrifices, Francis Lucas Boyer D'Argens De Guille, a Knight of the Jerusalem altar, etc. Erected in the year of Jubilee 1775. What a different system the Roman pontifical system is from that of the gospel of Jesus Christ! We read here of "expiatory fire," but not a word of this is found in the gospel. The expiatory sufferings of Christ are spoken of, and also "the vengeance of eternal fire," but the idea of a place of purgation in the other world, where souls are purified by fire from their sins and afterwards admitted to heaven, is a mere invention of the Roman priesthood, and has no more to do with the gospel than the Indian doctrine of transmigration of souls. We are informed also by the above, that it was a special mark of benignity in Pope Pius the 6th that he conferred the eternal privilege on this altar of releasing souls from purgatory; whereas if he really had any such power, and merely exercised it here and there, in a few isolated cases (where perhaps something of a consideration was offered to him), instead of entitling him to be called an indulgent, it should for ever brand him as a most hard-hearted and cruel High Priest, that he did not extend the privilege to all. And furthermore, I need not here undertake to show how far removed from the good old way of the gospel is the pretension, that any sacrifices, upon even the most privileged altar, are now called for, or can be of the least avail in expiating sin. O, Rome, Rome! how art thou "fallen from grace! " and how proudly hast thou turned thy back upon the Son of God, the only Saviour of sinners, and drawn millions with thee in the broad way of Pharisaism, idolatry, and perdition! But thy days are numbered, and woe to all them that have partaken in thy sins, [Another letter, dated PALERMO, May 14, says,] But the most significant display at Palermo is in the religious processions. These tell us plainly the mental and moral degradation of this people. On the occasion of Good Friday, we saw paraded through the town, by a troop of vulgar-looking priests, a glass case containing a ghastly wax image of a dead Christ, made as revolting as possible by the profusion of blood streaming over the face, and from the pierced hands, and feet, and side. After this came a dolorous image of the Virgin, clothed in black, and next the Presi THE DAY WILL BREAK BY AND BY. dent, the members of parliament, staff-officers, and the military. That the degraded populace should crowd around this spectacle, and cross themselves with superstitious horror, was to be expected; but that the legislators and superior officers of the army should lend themselves to such imposition, was the humiliation of many hopes for Sicily, founded upon the intelligence of the age. These dignitaries of the state are enlightened men; they despise the priests, they call the people "swine" for their eagerness after this mummery-and in private conversation warmly deplore the effect of such exhibitions. Yet they succumb to every ghostly custom that leads them out to parade. Their intelligence goes with a moral cowardice infinitely more discouraging than their fear of the Neapolitans. The spectacle referred to must be seen, to know how deeply intelligence can demean itself. The environs of Palermo afford many delightful excursions, among which that to the Monastery is quite celebrated. The road thither carries us near some Saracenic ruins well worth seeing; and through a plain upon which divine benevolence seems to have lavished every blessing of the field; but strown, alas! with a race in ruins-a tribe of demi-savages clad in sheepskins, and pursuing agriculture with long guns at their backs. Arrived at the Monastery grounds, we find large vineyards extending on either side, with valuable olive orchards surrounded with high, wellbuilt walls; and close around the Monastery itself are thick groves of oranges and lemons, with an ornamented garden rising in terraces up the mountain side. Here we enjoy the choicest fruit, and the loveliest view in all Sicily. As if, however, to mock all fancies of an earthly paradise, out come a gang of blowsy monks, sworn to beggary and the affectation of poverty. From this luxuriant garden these lazy impostors go forth to gather charity from the industrious poor. Poetry has made this Monastery the retreat of pious meditation! But enter-can this museum of wax figures, and relics, and hideous pictures, this studio of raw-head and bloody-bones, called a chapel, be a place of divine communion? Can such a burlesque of sacred ideas aid the soul to any just conception of Christianity? But they have a library here-"many valuable and rare old works in it," 'tis said. Let us inquire for one such. Visitor. Have you a copy of the Bible here? Monk. O yes; we have the sacred Scriptures here. (Monk produces the book.) Visitor. But this is not the Bible. (The goodly fellowship of monks repel the insinuation with an outcry.) British Officer. Come, now, let us prove the matter. Sit down at the table here, and I will read you a passage from the true Bible, while you follow me with yours, to see how they compare. (Officer reads -monks find themselves all out.) Monk. Stop, if you please, sir; I think we must have the wrong place. 245 from John, to show you the style and substance of the true word of God. The monks listen with interest; one standing by the foot of the table clasps his hands, and repeats a certain verse. As the reader stops, he cries, "Tell me, Sir, where can I get a book like that?" In a word, the monks are convinced of the real character of what they called the Bible. It is only a book of Scripture narratives, paraphrased to suit Popish notions-a sheer fraud of the Papal Church. We are happy to be able to testify that many monasteries of Sicily have an older and rarer work in them now than they ever had before. "THE DAY WILL BREAK BY AND BY." Ir was about four o'clock in the morning that I quitted the farm-house, where for a week I had passed my time in peace and repose. Old Roger, a servant on the farm, carried my portmanteau over his shoulder, for we had a walk before us of four or five miles to meet the coach. "How dark it is!" said I, looking up at the starless and gloomy sky. "Yes, sir, it is dark enough, of a certain," said Roger, as he led the way cautiously across a hollow way, through the fern and furze, and thorns and brambles; "but the day will break by and by.". There was something so cheering and encouraging in the way in which the old man spoke this, as well as in the words themselves, that it gathered like a cordial round my heart. True, I did now and then stumble, and at times a furze bush or a straggling bramble for a moment entangled my feet, but this mattered not. "The day will break by and by," thought I, still musing on old Roger's words, "and then we shall get on better." On went the old man with his burden, and close at his heels I followed; and whether it was that, coming from the bright fireside in the farm-house, the night had at first appeared darker than it really was, or whether my sight, by degrees becoming more accustomed to the gloom, discerned, on that account, the objects around me clearer than before, certain it is, that ere we had walked a mile, I could distinguish | my path, and the trees and brambles about it, with very little difficulty. There were so many uncouth stiles and high gates to clamber over, that we proceeded rather slowly, but every mile we walked there was a lessening of the gloom twilight turned into grey, and grey into a clear light. The east, having by little and little grown brighter, began to glow with yellow and red; and long before we had arrived at the place where the coach changed horses, the birds were warbling around us, the sun over the distant hills was blazing in the sky, and the heavens were glowing with purple and gold. Many a year has rolled away since then, and old Roger has been long since "gathered to his fathers," in the village churchyard. The farm-house itself has been made into a modern-looking mansion, and is inhabited by a new tenant. The little road-side Officer. Listen, now, while I read you a chapter public-house, where the coach used to change horses, Officer. Very well; let us take another, then. The result is the same; the two Bibles are wholly unlike. |