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170

PROTESTANT WORSHIP

It has struck me, while pacing in the noble churches here, that the Catholics may have borrowed their notion of holy doors from this passage in Ezekiel, chap. xliv. :—“Then he brought me back the way of the gate of the outward sanctuary, which looketh towards the east, and it was shut. Then said the Lord unto me, This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter into it, because the Lord, the God of Israel, hath entered in by it, therefore it shall be shut; it is for the Prince; the Prince he shall sit in it to eat bread before the Lord. He shall enter in by the way of the porch of that gate, and shall go out by the way of the same."

If, indeed, the glory of God were visible here, we might well grant that the doors and the temple were holy; but should not Ichabod be written here? and as to types and shadows and ceremonies, they were indeed once a shadow of things to come, but the body is Christ.

PROTESTANT WORSHIP IN ROME.

In 1817 the English were received with great attention in Rome. Pius VII. appeared to feel all that gratitude which is natural to a man who has received his kingdom, and its astonishing works of art, through the valour of any nation. The English were allowed free entrance any where, even where the Italians found it difficult to enter. The Pope received them, even ladies, in his garden without ceremony. In this state of things, they ventured to solicit for the public celebration of service according to the rites of our own established church. Gonsalvi was the cardinal then at the head of the council. We are informed by a late writer, that Gonsalvi replied, “I cannot authorize what would be directly in opposition to the principles of our reli

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gion and the laws of the state; but the government will not interfere with anything you do quietly among yourselves, as long as it is done with propriety." The established worship of our church was then set up in Rome.

In the year 1820 the priests took alarm, and it was feared that it would be discontinued. It was at that moment celebrated in a room near the pillar of Trajan-the storm blew over-it was then removed to the mausoleum of Augustus; but it was still too near the Capitol, and I understand the English themselves removed it without the Porto del Popolo. The service is now celebrated in a large upper-room, and we had the privilege of going without the gate to join in our own comparatively pure worship; the door is guarded by two of the Pope's own body guard. I never heard the precise object for which they are placed, but I should strongly suspect to keep out the Catholics! They reminded me of the fact related in church history, of Huneric king of the Vandals, an Arian. "He fearing that he should lose his Vandals if they attended the preaching of the Christian bishop Eugenius, ordered guards to watch at the door. of the church, who, when they saw a man or woman in a Vandal habit attempting to enter, struck such person on the head with short staves, jagged and indented, which being twisted into the hair, and drawn back with sudden force, effectually detained them; and many that belonged to his court were thus detained, and afterwards sent into the country to reap corn, which, as they were most of them gentlemen, was a severe punishment."

The permission to worship is most propitious for travellers. It is such an inestimable privilege to find no waste, howling wilderness, to drink of the brook by the way, and wherever we go to be made glad by the streams that flow

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PROTESTANT WORSHIP.

from under the true altar. Oh! that the vision of Ezekiel might here find its accomplishment in the spread of the gospel.

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And the man brought me through the waters; the waters were to the ancles. Again he measured a thousand cubits, and brought me through the waters; the waters were to the knees. Again he measured a thousand cubits, and brought me through; the waters were to the loins. Afterwards he measured a thousand, and it was a river that I could not pass over; for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed over. And it shall come to pass that every thing that liveth, that moveth, whithersoever the river shall come, shall live."

All the clergy that pass through Rome have an opportunity to proclaim the gospel. On the 14th of January, Mr. S preached from these words: "I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand; and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles." In the afternoon Mr. Bchose his text from the 3d of John, Sth verse; For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil."

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Had Paul once more been in Rome he would have joyed to hear the scriptures explained as we heard them. Of the simple faithful minister of Christ, how truly may it be said,

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When the eye saw him, then it blessed him; when the ear heard him, it gave witness unto him:" it is perhaps one of the faint spots in the beautiful robe of our church, that there is in many parishes so little useful intercourse between the minister and his people.

CHAPTER XIII.

Last View of Rome-Lake of Monte Rossi-Ronciglione - Mons Ciminus-Volturnum-Lake of Bolsena-Lorenzo Nuovo-Acquapendente-Radicofane Mountain-Baths of San Filippo - Buon Convento Sienna.

ROME is not a city to be left without deep feeling, and, as we drove over Ponte Molle, we cast many a farewell look towards St. Peter's; and a prayer to our Heavenly Father, that light might at length arise upon her seven hills—a prayer rather of charity than faith, whilst it stands written, "And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, 'Thus with violence shall that great city, Babylon, be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.””

Although as early as the 27th April, the roses here and there threw abroad their fragrance, and the foliage of the vine hung in graceful streamers over the old walls; and we wound through the valley that separates the two hills of Pincio and Mario, passing that solitary tomb which stands the first emblem of past ages. Thence over the Sabine hills, the country is exceedingly dreary.

Storta and Boccano hardly afford wherewith to supply the necessities of nature; but, from the hill behind the inn at Storta, St. Peter's is seen for the last time, and there is nothing to break in upon the reverie into which

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such a farewell puts one, but the singularity of the ground at Mons Erosus, just at the junction of the Sienna and Loretto roads with the Via Cassia: it is lava, under which are prodigious cavities, so as to form the appearance of successive bridges. The little Lake of Monte Rossi is next seen, the sulphureous exhalations of which are oppressive. We were told that, on the top of the hill, Etruscan vases had been taken from excavated chambers; but we did not look after them, as we were hastening to our nest for the night.

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High as might suit an eagle's eyrie, in the midst of a rocky ravine, that appears to have been formed by some dreadful convulsion, stands the gloomy castle of Ronciglione. Volcanic rocks and iron works form the ramparts of the valley; vast masses have fallen in the most chaotic confusion; the scene is highly picturesque. The Cicerone spoke of the caduta of rocks with great admiration. On the precipitous edge of this dark ravine, are habitations that match well with this gloomy dell, and inhabitants as wild as the chamois ran about to look after us with a vacant curiosity; and they hardly needed the malaria, which we understood infested them in summer, to make their lot sad. At four o'clock next morning, we left Ronciglione, and found Aurora, with her rosy fingers, tinging Soracte, the Tiburtine range, and the distant Apennines, as far to the right as the eye could reach. We immediately began to climb Mons Ciminus, and, although the dew rendered flowers unfit for the hortus siccus, we were tempted to gather an elegant bouquet of cyclamen, indigenous asparagus, and a bugloss, peculiar in its vivid colours. The whole mount is rich in flowers, and its sides and valleys are prettily clothed with wood.

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