rise and formation of merely secular sovereignties, exceedingly impressive to the natural mind, and dazzling to the carnal eye, constituting the very splendour and glory of secular history, yet, in comparison with the eternal years of God, passing away like a morning vapour;-though these processes are in their own nature so different, the mind is aided in forming a just estimate of the slowness and grandeur of their movement, by the comparison of one with the other. The theological controversies that resulted in forming and fixing the theoretic belief of Christendom in the triune God appear unprofitable and valueless to the merely secular mind, to the mind that is absorbed in the finite, and making no comparisons between time and eternity. The sneer that this whole contest of five centuries was merely about a single letter, merely whether the term should be ὁμοούσιον or ὁμοιούσιον, expresses the feeling of many a mind; for which, notwithstanding all its culture in other directions, the invisible is less august than the visible, and the temporal more impressive than the eternal."

THE CHURCH AND THE WORLD.*

RELIGION Supposes something in advance of other men. The world has come up to a certain elevation, and says it will honour religion, if it will remain stationary at this level,-if it will reprove few of its vices, and those of grosser forms; if it will leave undisturbed its more refined pleasures; if it will not rebuke its gaiety, and fashion, and pride; if it will be found at the same festive board, and suppress all peculiarities; if it will covenant that the peace of the sinner shall not be disturbed, and the great designs of God's benevolence be not pressed on the attention of men,-it will speak smoothly of religion and its friends. Thus, a covenant is tacitly made with death, and a league with hell. There is a truce in the warfare, and the world yields just as much as the church yields; and any decided movement in behalf of perishing sinners is regarded as a breach of compact, or an invasion of right. Religion, thus peaceful and still, thus undecided and unobtrusive, is the praise of every sinner's lips. It is eminently, in his view, the religion of peace; and it has reconciled the world to itself. There is no emotion, no opposition, no conflict; there is no irritation, no movement, no feeling. The world is willing that the church should secure all the triumphs it can; for it disturbs no man's peace, disquiets no man's conscience, breaks in upon no man's vices or pleasures. It is willing even that men should become united to the church of God; for it implies no self-denial, no abandonment of pleasure, no obligation to do anything to save man or to benefit the world. There is peace! But there is peace like this also elsewhere. There was peace, and unity, and concord, in the lonely valley which Ezekiel trod, which was full of bones,

* From a discourse on "Reasons for developing Christian Character," by Albert Barnes.

very many and very dry. There is peace like this in the hollow tombs, in the charnel-house of the dead; where no lip moves to reprove the living, no eye is fired with indignation at the sins of man; no one of the still and solemn people there lifts a finger to warn the gay and the foolish that they are hastening to destruction. There is a union there which nothing disturbs, and which is never broken, except when one and another is laid solemn, and still, and noiseless in the vaults of the dead; as hypocrites, still dead in sin, become attached to a slumbering church.

66

Now it is not of a religion or a peace like this of which I speak when I say that Christianity has power over men, and that the Christian should let his light shine, that he may do good. I speak of that only which is in advance of other men, which is open and decided. There is no development of Christianity when you go just as far as the world will speak well of you, and then stop. Woe," said the Saviour to His disciples, woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did they to the false prophets." An ancient Grecian orator was accustomed to say, "What foolish thing have I uttered, that the people applaud me?" A Christian may well begin to fear when all are loud in his praise. The Christian minister should seek his closet when his praise is on the lips of the gay, and foolish, and wicked, when he has said nothing to disturb their peace. Our account is laid in exciting right feeling; and better is any emotion than the still prolonged slumbers of the dead; better any note, than the everlasting and dreary silence of the tombs. So thought the Saviour. He came for "the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign that should be spoken against," that thereby "the thoughts of many hearts might be revealed,"

OCCASIONAL PAPERS ON LONDON.

NO. II.-SPITALFIELDS.

Royal Exchange-City Churches-Jews-Whitechapel and Mile-End-roadBow-Spitalfields-Rookeries-Bethnal-Green-Population-Church Accommodation Claims upon voluntary efforts-London City Mission-Methodist Statistics.

ADDISON, who was a keen observer of men and manners, writing of London, says, “There is no place in the town which I so much love to frequent as the Royal Exchange. It gives me a secret satisfaction, and, in some measure, gratifies my vanity, as I am an Englishman, to see so rich an assembly of countrymen and foreigners consulting together upon the private business of mankind, and making this metropolis a kind of emporium for the whole earth. I must confess I look upon High 'Change to be a great council, in which all considerable nations have their representatives......I have often been pleased to hear disputes adjusted between an inhabitant of Japan and an alderman of London; or to see a subject of the Great Mogul entering into a league with one of the Czar of Moscovy.

I am infinitely delighted in mixing with these several ministers of commerce, as they are distinguished by different walks and different languages. Sometimes I am jostled among a body of Armenians; sometimes I am lost in a crowd of Jews; and sometimes make one in a group of Dutchmen. I am a Dane, Swede, or Frenchman at different times, or rather fancy myself like the old philosopher, who, upon being asked what countryman he was, replied that he was a citizen of the world.'"*

The largest monetary and commercial transactions of the world take place within the district immediately surrounding the Royal Exchange. Three centuries ago Antwerp was the centre of the money power in Europe. But the energy and enterprise of Englishmen, and the surprising developments of English commerce, have given to London the power once belonging to a continental city. Sir Thomas Gresham founded the first Exchange in 1567, presenting it "in equal moieties to the City and Mercers' Company." This building was destroyed by the great fire in 1666. After that terrible disaster had swept away a large portion of the city, Wren prepared plans for reconstructing London, in which he made the Exchange a grand centre, with streets branching from it in all directions. The execution of this magnificent design was unhappily rendered impossible by the petty jealousy of individuals. A second Exchange was built on the old site, which perished by fire, like its predecessor, in 1838. The splendid and imposing edifice now standing upon the same spot was commenced and opened under very favourable auspices. The late lamented Prince Consort laid the foundation-stone in 1842, and suggested an inscription; but the appropriate motto, "The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof," carved on the stone crowning the noble portico, was chosen by Dean Milman: Her Majesty Queen Victoria opened the building in state on the 28th of October, 1844. Royalty thus identified itself with that commerce which has contributed to give England her enviable position among the nations.

Leaving the Exchange to the left, passing down Cornhill and Leadenhallstreet towards Whitechapel, an observant stranger will remark upon the number of old churches appearing at short distances along this thoroughfare. Before the Great Fire, London was crowded with churches, the sight of whose spires would pleasingly impress the visitor approaching the metropolis from the hilly suburbs. Even now there is no part of the metropolis so amply provided with churches as the city itself, although many beautiful sanctuaries have been removed to make way for the necessities of commerce; their graveyards, once sacred as the resting-place of the departed, being built over for the same reason. An interesting, but questionable, tradition points to St. Peter's, Cornhill, as the site of the oldest metropolitan church, and the first edifice of the kind built in Great Britain, to which the Archbishop's see was attached before it was removed to Canterbury. It is also said that to one of the churches situated in this

Spectator," No. 69.

route a sum of money was once left by some pious bigot, the interest of which was annually to be expended in buying faggots to burn heretics; but inasmuch as there are no heretics forthcoming in these kindlier Christian times, the money is wisely expended in providing a warm reception of another kind.

At the juncture of Cornhill and Leadenhall-street we cross Bishopsgate. A few yards down this street, on the right hand side, stands the Wesleyan Mission-House and Centenary Hall. In Lead-Hall, or Leadenhall-street, the old East India House formerly reared its massive front; but, like the powerful Company once occupying its spacious halls, it belongs to the things that were.

The neighbourhood adjoining Leadenhall-street, Aldgate, and the Minories, is deeply interesting. Leaving the noise and traffic of the main thoroughfare, let us saunter through any of the by-streets to the north, choosing Friday evening after sunset, or a fine Saturday morning, for our ramble. We pass at once into a new and curious region. Clearly it is no work-time here. The shops are closed, and their owners, dressed in holiday attire, sit leisurely at their doors; whilst children, in the innocence and freedom of youth, romp and play together in the street. No second glance is needed to distinguish who these idlers are. Their race, history, habits, hopes, and prejudices are stamped indelibly upon their features. An almighty Hand has separated them from other nations, and they glory in their distinctness.

About twenty thousand Jews live in London. The greater part of this number reside in the neighbourhood now under notice. They are classed as Portuguese and German, but are not divided into tribes. They have, however, separate synagogues, a distinct service and prayer-book, and differ considerably in their forms of ceremonial worship. "The Jews have eight synagogues in London, besides some smaller places which may, perhaps, adopting the language of another church, be called synagogues of ease. The great synagogue in Duke's Place is the largest; but the new synagogue, St. Helen's, Bishopsgate, is the one which most betokens the wealth of the worshippers.” * The attendance at public worship is not large, as a rule; and the demeanour of the congregations is generally thoughtless and inattentive.

Sussex-hall, in Leadenhall-street, where a Jews' and General Literary and Scientific Institution is established, receives its principal support from Israelites. Free lectures, concerts, and entertainments, similar to those given in other institutions, are provided for members desirous of rational amusement. The intelligence of the Jews generally averages higher than the ordinary standard, although the love of literature does not prevail with them so much as among their Gentile neighbours. The educational claims of the young are duly appreciated, large schools being supported by subscription, in which the advantages of a Jewish training are obtained. A

"London Labour and the London Poor."

Jews' Infant School in Houndsditch, accommodating nearly four hundred children, another in Spitalfields for twelve hundred, which together cost more than £2,000 annually, and other similar establishments, attest the care bestowed upon their youth. Their other charities are equally creditable. Destitute children are supported, old and worn-out Jews are provided with hospital attention, and their poor widows find a maintenance in a Widows' Home in Aldgate. An Orphan Asylum, almshouses, three institutions for granting marriage dowers to fatherless children, another for the burial of the poor, with several others of various descriptions, show how ample are the benefactions of this estranged people for their own community.

Many of the better-class Jews own large establishments in the principal thoroughfares of the metropolis. Some wealthy Hebrew merchants have splendid homes in aristocratic places; but the mass of hard-working, speculating, hoarding Jews live near Aldgate. Shopkeepers, manufacturers, inferior jewellers, second-hand ware dealers, old-clothes-men, cigar-makers, and other traders, here abound. A few of the low Jewesses and Jew girls are itinerant street-sellers: their morality contrasting favourably with that of the Gentiles by whom they are surrounded. The notorious Petticoatlane, branching from the High-street, Whitechapel, is a favourite abode of those dealing in second-hand garments. Every description of dress is there offered for sale, this being one of the head-quarters of the trade. The scene presented by this crowded mart on a Saturday night or Sunday morning, when business is most brisk, is singular as well as repulsive. The very features of the grasping Jewish vendors are enough to frighten timid people from their stores; whilst a painful sense of personal insecurity haunts you, as you thread your way among the exposed goods and suspicious-looking idlers. Distressing as this sight of Sunday desecration must be to all who reverence the Lord's day, in justice we must state that the outward observance of their own Sabbath by the Jews might profitably be imitated by multitudes of nominal Christians. No business is transacted in this famous distriot on the seventh day.

Whitechapel is a continuation of Leadenhall-street, and leads direct east. A few historic associations are connected with the locality. It is conjectured the name was originally derived from a convent of white nuns, or nuns who wore white dresses, formerly established here, and the chapel which was left standing after the suppression of the monasteries. A little dirty alley, called Harrow-alley, running south from the main street, was once the home of Daniel Defoe, where "Robinson Crusoe," and his "History of the Plague," were written.* The immortal angler, Isaac Walton, was apprenticed to a hosier in Whitechapel.

The thoroughfare down which we are now passing is one of the finest in London. It is the main artery of this limb of the metropolis. On holidays or any festive occasion, when the charms of country air and scenery

Pulleyn's "Etymological Compendium."