self to achieve the highest triumphs of genius and art, or to sympathize with those who can." *

Even the austere Spartans prayed the gods to grant them "the beautiful with the good."

"Lectures to Young Men," vol. i. p. 51.

WE

CHAPTER VII.

BEAUTY OF MORALS.

may at once state our conviction that the good old Bible is the foundation of all true morality, both in individuals and communities. Its principles give beauty and strength to nations.

In October, 1863, our gracious Queen placed a statue of the loved and noble Prince Albert in the castle at Balmoral. The inscription is alike worthy of the Queen and the Prince, and is a precious memorial in the history of nations; for on the pedestal is written: "Albert, Prince Consort, 1863. His life sprang from a deep inner sympathy with God's will, and therefore with all that is true, and beautiful, and right." *

The Bible teaches us to fear God and honour the

* A correspondent of "The North British Mail," said in 1872:"Nothing can be simpler than the daily routine of life at Balmoral Castle, and this has always been the rule with her Majesty when free from the trammels of State. The old servants at Balmoral will tell you-speaking of bygone days--that in Prince Albert's time Balmoral was a picture of domestic felicity, ‘A home fu' o' laughing bairns.' 'And, ah!' said one, who had been a favourite nurse, the Prince was fond o' his bairnies, and they doated on their faither. He used to play with them in the corridor—and sic daffin' an' glee! The Queen looking out of her room, would stand and watch them with a smile on her face. And when the fun grew boisterous she would raise her finger with a gentle hush-but the mither's heart was wi' them.' The Prince is everywhere held in loving remembrance."

king; to do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God; and he who does these things is morally beautiful; for all such deeds agree with the genius, spirit, and doctrines of that Holy Book, which is a thousand blessings in one.

Henry IV. of France expressed a hope to live to see the day when every poor man should have a chicken boiling in his pot; but that sentiment, said Lord Lyttelton when proposing the health of the Queen, "had been corrected at a later period by George III., who said that, 'Better than having any chicken boiling in the pot, he hoped to see the time when a Bible would be in the window of every cottage.'" Coleridge said that the fairest flower he ever saw climbing round a poor man's window, was not so beautiful in his eyes as the Bible which he saw within; and life, in cottage or palace, is beautiful only as it embodies and illustrates the truths of that holy revelation.

A striking example of the power of the Bible in elevating a people, is found in the life of George, King of Tonga; a man who, by his sterling excellencies, has won the admiration and respect of the commanders of Her Majesty's war ships; who fully appreciates the blessings of Christianity, and rules his people by the principles of God's holy Word. When the Bible Society sent 10,000 copies of the New Testament to the Tongan Islands, the king, full of gratitude, discoursed to his people, and in a manly and noble address asked, "What is it that makes the difference between the English and us Polynesians? Is it anything in their physical

formation or mental constitution which was not to be found in the Polynesians? Is it anything in the climate? I think not." I think not." And then taking a Bible and holding it up before the people, his eye sparkling with joy, and his ebony cheeks beaming with the light of the glory of God, he said with much energy, "It is this which makes the difference between the English and us; they have the book, they have the book!" It was a grand thing for England when the brave Wykliffe by his translation rolled away the stone from the wellspring of life; and, thanks be to God, no man, no priest, cardinal, council, or pope, can roll it back again! And thanks be to the blessed Bible Society, who are sending the stream of Divine truth among the thirsty nations, and scattering the imperishable seed among the famishing peoples of the earth!

One of Wykliffe's contemporaries, greatly amazed at the translation, and greatly exasperated with its effects, said bitterly, but impotently, "This Master John Wykliffe has translated the Bible out of Latin into English, and thus laid it more open to the laity, and to women who can read, than it had formerly been to the most learned of the clergy, even to those of them who had the best understanding. And in this way the gospel pearl is cast abroad and trodden under foot of swine," [shame on the man who calls the laity and the ladies swine because they read the blessed Bible !] " and that which was before precious to both clergy, is rendered as it were the common jest of both. The jewel of the Church is turned into the sport of the people, and what was

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hitherto the principal gift of the clergy and divines is made for ever common to the laity.' Yes, thank God, for ever!

Beauty of action implies in the actor, truth, honour, integrity, purity, kindness, sympathy, and benevolence. These high and noble qualities are sure to be developed in human conduct-conduct which may not arrest the attention of the nation, but which, while shedding a holy influence in its immediate circle, forms an element in the nation's strength and glory. The men of rank, wealth, and genius, simply as such, are not the glory of our land, but the men of sterling moral integrity, whether highly gifted or not, whether rich or poor. Byron was a man of splendid genius, with an exquisite sense of the beautiful, and with wonderful power in expressing it; but his heart was not right, and therefore his life was not right. He was a grand genius scarred and blackened with unhallowed fires.

This nation-notwithstanding all the raving of low democrats who have wasted their natural energies and opportunities by dissipation, and have got as low as they can by occupying cellars, and have become levellers, and wish to bring others as low as themselves knows how to respect its hereditary nobility. We sympathize deeply with poor, honest, industrious, and honourable men who, by a succession of trials and losses, have been brought into a state of poverty; but we have no sympathy with reckless and worthless men who seek to slander those who are placed in the higher circles. The true and

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