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The Heron.

employed in this way in 1 Sam. iii. 1,-' The word of the Lord was precious in those days;' i. e. the direct manifestations of the Divine will were infrequent. This jealousy

Is for a precious creature; as she's rare
Must it be great.'-Winter's Tale, i. 2.

The Heron.

HE common heron is a bird of an awkward shape, with a large head and long bill set upon a snaky neck. Its long legs are put far back in its body, the feet and claws are large, and the tail very short. The prevailing colour of the plumage is grey, deepening in parts to dull slate-colour and bluish-black, and fading off into white. It is a strange, shy bird, ungraceful in its movements, with a harsh voice, and unsocial in its habits. A hermit of the woods and streams, it does not consort even with its own kith and kin, except at the breeding-season, when it becomes lively, noisy, and gregarious, and forms those communities of birds called 'heronries,' which were once guarded and preserved with jealous care for the sake of the sport which they afforded in hawking, and which still exist in many parts of the country. In the palmy days of falconry the places where the heron bred were counted almost sacred, the bird was considered royal game, and penal statutes were enacted for its preservation.

The heron when attacked by an eagle or falcon endeavours to escape by rising in the air and getting above its foe. The wings of the heron strike the air with an equal and regulated motion, which raises its body to such an elevation that at a distance nothing is seen except the wings, which are at last lost sight of in the region of the clouds.

The heron always frequents the neighbourhood of rivers or lakes. Almost always solitary, it remains for hours motionless on the same spot. When seeking the fish or frogs, on which it chiefly feeds, the heron wades into the water, folds its long neck partially over its back and forward again, and, with watchful eye, waits till a fish comes within reach of its beak, when it darts its head into the water and secures its slimy, slippery prey. It is one of the marvels of instinct that the heron seems to be aware of the fear which fish have of a shadow, and so it never attempts to catch them in the sunshine.

Bishop Mant, in his British Months, gives the following poetical picture of the heron, or ern, as it is called in most rural districts :'O'er yonder lake the while,

What bird above the wooded isle,
With pendant feet, and pinions slow,
Is seen his ponderous length to row?
'Tis the tall heron's awkward flight,
His crest of black, and neck of white,
Far sunk his grey-blue wings between,
And giant legs of murky green.
His tribe is seaward, far away;
And he remains, as peasants say,

About their summer haunts to dwell,

On guard, a faithful sentinel;

Till Spring again with genial smile
Recall them to their native isle.'

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The Surplice.

A CONVERSATION BETWEEN A CLERGYMAN AND ONE OF HIS PARISHIONERS.

HY, sir, do you wear a surplice in church? said John. A Dissenter asked me this on Sunday, and I could not give him a good answer, feeling that I was not acquainted with the subject. I suppose, because I have always been accustomed to see the surplice, it never occurred to me to inquire into the reason of its use. He said it was Jewish and Popish.

Clergyman.-Well, John, in the first place I must say I am very glad that you come to your clergyman in your difficulty. Many people leave the good old path of the Church and become Dissenters because they hear something said against the Church which they can't answer themselves, but which their clergyman, if they would ask him about it, could soon set in its true light. And I dare say I shall be able to help you in this matter. But, first of all, let me ask you, does a Dissenting preacher wear any particular dress-different, I mean, from his common dress-in his pulpit ?

J.-Yes: not a surplice, certainly; but always a black coat and white neckcloth-parson like. My neighbour himself, indeed, who asked me about the surplice, wears these when he is to preach anywhere.

C-Very likely. And some of the Baptists and Independents and others wear a black gown besides, when in their pulpits. Now, can you imagine why they dress differently, when there, from their dress elsewhere?

J.-I suppose because it seems more decent and solemn, that they should not look just the same when conducting public worship as they

do at other times.

C.-But do we read in the New Testament that the Apostles dressed differently when they preached? And if they did not, ought we to do so?

J.-Well, but I always think to myself, when I read about their preaching, that although it was the same Gospel, yet they had to preach it in a different manner. I suppose they had no regular churches such as we have now, and we read that very often their preaching was in the open air; and altogether, it seems to me, it must have been a rougher style of service than we have now.

C.-Quite right, John. We have no fears of persecutors bursting in upon us now-a-days while at our prayers, as they bad. And I take you to mean this, that although the Church now-a-days holds the same doctrine as the Apostles taught then, yet the circumstances of the Church now are very different from the circumstances then; and that, therefore, we are not to be tied down to the same manner of preaching, or of conducting public worship in general, as they were obliged to adopt. All which shows this, that their not expressly ordering certain practices which are intended to promote the honour of Almighty God, is no argument that it is wrong in us to observe them.

J.-Anyhow it would seem very odd to see a man preaching or praying in public worship-at church, say, or at chapel-in his working clothes or common dress.

C.-But now, if we wear anything different from the common

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The Surplice.

dress, why am I Jewish,' or 'Popish,' for wearing a white linen robe, called a surplice, and your Dissenting neighbour a sound Christian for only wearing a black coat and white neckcloth? The New Testament neither condemns my dress nor enjoins his. So that before he can object to my surplice he must give up his white neckcloth, otherwise he is hardly consistent, blaming a thing in me and doing it himself. But as you yourself said just now, it seems-even to those who pride themselves on rejecting all forms-more decent and solemn to have some special dress for conducting public worship. There was once a celebrated Baptist preacher, John Foster. One day he entered his pulpit in a grey coat and a flaming red waistcoat; but his congregation, instead of admiring his superiority to all such customs as most preachers observed, were shocked at him for a want of solemnity in his attire. The fact is, God has so made us that trifles like these have weight with us. We should not be so impressed by the dignity of a judge in a brown coat and hat, as we are when we see him in his scarlet gown and wig; nor, I think, should we feel so much reverence for the American President on a state occasion as we should for our Queen in her royal robes.

J. But now, sir, about the surplice. My neighbour called it 'Jewish' and' Popish,' and said that the Gospel is opposed to ceremonial vestments. I should be greatly obliged if you would open up the whole matter to me.

C.-Well, John, as well as I can I will:

Up to the time of the Exodus there was no regular public worship of God; no appointed place, or time, or service, for worshippers to assemble together from various houses for the purpose of joining their prayers and praises; nor were there any persons specially appointed to lead such worship, had there been any. Till then, it appears, each family had its own service, consisting mainly of sacrifice, and the head of the household was the priest, as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were. But when God called the Jewish nation out of their bondage in Egypt, and took them apart from the rest of the world, He instituted a public national service among them. For this service two things were necessary a place for holding it in, and persons to conduct it. In Exod. xxv. to xxvii. you have the account of the appointment of the place, which was called at first the Tabernacle, and, after some centuries, the Temple. In Exod. xxviii. and xxix. you find the account of the appointment of the persons, who were called priests. And now, what is the very first point concerning them that God directs? Why this (ver. 2), 'And thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother, for glory and for beauty.' Herein I think we see that the All-wise God, who knoweth our frame,' and understandeth our thoughts,' was providing for one of our natural feelings-the same that we have spoken of-being satisfied; the instinct, as it were, that makes us desire to see a person who is discharging a solemn office solemnly clothed. glory and for beauty;' for dignity, to make the priest look outwardly worthy of his occupation; for beauty, to make his appearance suit the grandeur of the place in which he ministered, which was typical of Heaven.

For

Now let us stop here one moment and consider this. If the very first of the directions concerning the priests was this one about their

The Surplice.

dress in conducting public worship, does it seem opposed to God's will that His Ministers should wear a special dress when conducting public worship now? You understand, I am not saying that because God ordered that particular dress for Aaron, and all the priests of the Jewish Church after him, therefore we are to use the same particular dress in the Christian Church. What I am trying to show is this: That the principle having been laid down by God, that in His public worship the ministering person should wear a special garment, it is as lawful for the clergy of the Christian Church to do so as it was for the Jewish priests.

J.-That is where my neighbour puzzled me. He argued that the Law was done away with by the Gospel, and that all such ceremonies are therefore contrary to the spirit of the Gospel.

C.-Nothing is easier than to say such things as that. But, in the first place, we have seen (I hope) that the wearing a special dress when conducting the public worship of God was not simply Jewish, but was ordered by God in consideration of man's natural, instinctive desire, that those who are discharging a solemn public duty should be solemnly attired. And even if it were Jewish in its original application, yet we must bear in mind, what random and unlearned reasoners are very apt to overlook, that the spirit of the Gospel cannot be contrary to the spirit of the Law, both being the revelation of the same All-wise God. Consequently when the Law, as it stood in the books of Moses, was done away with, because the death of Christ fulfilled all its meaning, yet the principles on which the Law was founded were not done away; the honour due unto the God Who gave it, to His house (as we see in 1 Cor. xi. 22), His servants (witness Ananias and Sapphira), His ordinances (as we plainly see from 1 Cor. xi. 29, 30), His Word (as St. John shows by the closing words of the Revelation),-this is still demanded; and the very Apostle, who urges that the Jewish Law was done away, also urges, when writing concerning public worship, Let all things be done decently and in order' (1 Cor. xiv. 40). But in public assemblies there can be no order without rule, and 'ceremonies' are a part of rule; and even the Dissenter makes a distinction in dress between the minister or preacher and the congregation, from this same feeling.

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J.-I think I begin to take it in now.

C.-Let us sum it up, then, in a shorter form :-The Gospel did not do away with public worship?

J. Certainly not.

Our Saviour promised to bless it, and St.

Paul bids us not forsake it (Heb. x. 25).

C. And the Gospel directs that this public worship is to be conducted decently and in order?'

J.-Yes.

C. And also that certain persons are to be specially appointed to conduct it?

J. Plainly so. The Epistles to Timothy and Titus alone would show that.

C.-Yes, and many other passages scattered through the Acts of the Apostles and the various Epistles. Then, of course, these persons so appointed to conduct the service are to do so decently and in order?'

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