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commonly paid for all offences in Saxon times was mitigated. God," says this version, Ps. ix. 9, " is the place of peace to the poor.' "The Lord God is become my peace-stool: my help is fast fixed and established in the Lord," Ps. xciv. 22. It can easily be imagined how this way of speaking was suited to the understanding and affections of the people among whom such a custom prevailed.

It is a singular proof of the great eagerness for learning in these days, that Aldhelm had two kings of North Britain for his correspondents, Aldfrid the Wise, as he was called, king of Northumbria, and Arcivil, or Archibald, a king of the Scots; to whom he sent some of his writings, and who had sufficient acquirements to value them. He also corresponded with learned men, not only in his own country, but abroad; particularly Cellan, an Irish monk, who lived a hermit's life in France. He was one of many Saxons who at this time visited Rome; going both from a feeling of devotion, and in pursuit of knowledge. There he became a proficient in the study of the Roman law, and also gained a good acquaintance with the poetry of the Romans, so as to write verses with ease and elegance in their language. This is an art now taught in almost every grammar-school, but it is a great credit to Aldhelm, that he was the first Englishman who mastered it. What is much more to his praise is, that he employed his talents in works designed to set forth the glory of God; and as his mind was enlarged by study and travel, he spoke with deeper feeling of the things in heaven and earth. It is impossible to give the simple force of his verse in modern English metre; but the following passages may serve as a specimen of his turn of thought:

Where the tempest wakes to wrath
Many waters wide and far,

On the ocean's dreadful path,

Loud and high their voices are:
Wondrous ways those waters move,
Where the sea-streams swiftest flow;
But more wondrous far above,
Holy Lord, Thy glories show.

As the beacon fire by night,
That the host of Israel led;
Such the glory, fair and bright,
Round the good man's dying bed:

(Ps. xciii. 3, 4.)

"Tis a beacon bright and fair,

Telling that the Lord is there.-(Ps. cxvi. 15.)

Churton.

WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.

It is difficult to speak of him in any other language than that of panegyric, because all feel towards him more than ears can hear, or tongue can utter; for he delivered the poor when he cried; the needy, also, and him that had no helper. It has been frequently related of him, that he has said that he could never have borne up against his daily labours, both in mind and body, had it not been for the rest the Sabbath-day afforded him. When a minister of state, a nobleman, one Sunday called upon him for the purpose of arranging some public business, he at once excused himself, saying, that he would wait upon his lordship upon any hour he pleased on the following day, but that he was then going to Church: this was after he had attended the morning service. Did any of his domestics, says one who knew him well, show a ruffled temper, or fall into misconduct, the case was met with pity, rather than resentment, and anxiety was shown to restore the offender, as a sick member, in the spirit of meekness. He was always ready for devotional exercises, and for religious conversation. In short, those who regard him merely as a philanthropist, in the worldly sense of that abused term, know very little of his character; he worked while it was day, remembering that the night was coming, in which no man could work; his philanthropy took its origin in love to God, it was kindled at the sacred fire of divine love, and it burned with such bright and steady lustre, only because it was daily replenished from its hallowed source; he was not permitted to leave the scene of his labours until he had beheld the great cause, to which he had dedicated all the energies of his soul, triumphant, and the fetters of the negroes about to be struck off for ever.-W. C. Taylor.

QUINTIN MATSYS.

THERE is one mode in which ingenious and aspiring workmen have sometimes raised themselves above the trade they were bred up to; of which we may give a few examples, as it does not imply any violent abandonment of their original occupation, but, on the contrary, arises in some degree naturally out of pursuits into which it has led them. We allude to cases of the mere working mechanic elevating himself into an artist, in a department kindred to that of his first exertions; and cases of the artist himself making his way from a lower to a higher department of his art. Thus, in Italy especially, it has not been uncommon for working goldsmiths, or those of them at least who have been employed in copying designs in the metal, to carry the study of their profession so far as to attain proficiency in the art of design itself; and some individuals, thus educated, have become eminent painters or sculptors. BENVENUTO CELLINI is one instance, who, while serving an apprenticeship to a goldsmith, acquired a knowledge not only of chasing, but also of drawing, engraving, and statuary, and afterwards became one of the greatest sculptors of his age; and several others might be mentioned. Workers in gold and silver, however, are not the only sort of smiths who have in this way attained to a proficiency in the fine arts. The old Dutch painter, QUINTIN MATSYS, was originally a blacksmith and farrier, on which account he is often called the Blacksmith of Antwerp, the town where he pursued this humble vocation. Having, when a young man, been attacked by a disorder which left him too much debilitated to return to the heavier work of his trade, which was his only means of support for himself and a widowed mother, he was forced to turn his attention to the fabrication of such light and ornamental articles as it was then fashionable to construct of wrought iron; and he obtained considerable reputation, in particular, by an inclosure and covering of this description, which he made for a well in the neighbourhood of the great church at Antwerp. He began, however, at length, to find even such work as this too laborious; and was in great difficulties as to what he should do, when the thought occurred to him, or rather

to one of his friends, that as he had shown considerable talent for the art of design, in many of the ornamental articles he had been in the habit of making, it might be worth his while to try what he could accomplish in a simple style of drawing; for example, in painting a few of those small pictures of saints which were wont to be distributed by the religious orders of the city to the people, on occasion of certain of their solemn processions. The idea was adopted, and Matsys succeeded in his new attempt to the admiration of every body. From that time painting became his profession, and he devoted himself to it with so much zeal and success, as not only to acquire a great deal of reputation in his own day, but to leave several works which are still held in considerable estimation. Among them is one at Windsor, "The Misers," which has been often engraved, and certainly deserves all the popularity that has so long been attached to it.-Craik.

SIR ISAAC NEWTON.

ISAAC NEWTON was born at Woolsthorpe, in the parish of Colsterworth, Lincolnshire, on Christmas day, old style, 1642. He was remarkably small and tender, as a child, and it was a saying of his mother, that at that time she could have put him into a quart mug; but, as he grew up, he became robust, and enjoyed the blessing of health and a vigorous constitution till his eightieth year. At twelve years old, having received some previous instruction, he was sent to the grammar school at Grantham, where, like Bacon, at about the same age, he showed remarkable proofs of a gifted and thoughtful mind. Instead of playing with the other boys, he was almost always busied in forming different kinds of models in wood for this purpose he procured saws, hatchets, hammers, and other tools, and even succeeded in producing a wooden clock. The object, however, which chiefly engaged his attention, was a new windmill, building near Grantham. Watching the progress of its construction, he made one on a very small scale, which in workmanship was considered equal to the original. When finished, he set it upon the top of the house where he lodged, and

fitting a small piece of linen to each of the sails, saw how the wind turned them. He put a mouse into the mill, and called it the miller; who, instead of helping to turn the sails, as his master wished, often stopped to eat the corn that was put in to be ground.

We have not room, curious as it might be, to describe all his various plans of this kind, the pursuit of which generally kept him low in his class at school: but little did his master and school-fellows imagine, when noticing the neat kites he flew at Grantham, and the transparent paper lanterns with candles in them, fastened to their tails, which looked at night like so many comets, that the young inventor would one day astonish not only Europe, but the whole world, by his discovery of the intricate though harmonious laws of creation itself, and aid in evincing the wisdom of God in the most wonderful of his works! And still less did his mother dream of this mighty result, when she took him away from school, to help in keeping his late father's farm, and to attend the Saturday market at Grantham. Often, indeed, did he stop between his home and that town, to study some old book under a hedge; or when set about watching sheep, would he sit sadly, though not idly, beneath a tree. has been said, that a really clever person is seldom altogether idle; and doubtless, from the period at which Newton could think and reason, his mind was incessantly and profoundly at work.

It

Such a genius could not long remain concealed; and an uncle, who was a clergyman, and a man ef excellent sense, became the instrument, under Providence, of effectually directing the mind of Newton into the track for which it was formed, by getting him placed at the university. Trinity maintained at that period, as we believe it does now, the leading place among colleges at Cambridge, both in classics and mathematics; and while that royal foundation continues to receive lustre from such names as Lord Bacon, Isaac Barrow, Cotes, Newton, Dryden, Bentley, and Porson, (we refrain from reciting living worthies, of whom there are not a few,) it shows itself at this day not undeserving the place of eminence which it formerly enjoyed. Of this college, in the ever-memorable year 1660, when he was eighteen years old, the great Newton became a member; Dr. Barrow, a Fellow and

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