ON THE LITERAL OR FIGURATIVE INTERPRETATION OF ACTS XV. 14-17.

To the Editor of the Christian Observer.

THERE is a passage in the Acts of the Apostles xv. 14-17, which appears to me entitled to a much more prominent place than I have ever seen assigned to it in the interpretation of the prophetical promises made to the Jews; with reference, I mean, to the controversy, whether these promises are to be understood in a figurative or a literal sense. This passage, I think, is nearly decisive for the figurative sense.

St. James is arguing, in confirmation of St. Peter's previous argument, for the lawfulness and propriety of the free admission of the Gentiles into the Christian church; and to establish his point, he quotes the prophet Amos, ix. 11, 12. The variations in the quotation from the Hebrew do not affect the present question. The structure of the Apostle's argument is as follows. He says, that God, as St. Peter has declared, hath visited the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name; "and to this agree the words of the prophets." To this agree; to what? assuredly to that which had just been mentioned; namely, the calling of the Gentiles.

Thus far St. James's argument is clear; the calling of the Gentiles, or their free admission into the Christian church was, he says, right, because it had been foretold by the prophets. But to what passage does the Apostle refer to establish this point? To a passage which speaks of the calling of the Gentiles as the effect of something which was previously to happen. And what was this previous event? It was no less than the "building again the tabernacle of David which was fallen down?" Here I say we have cause and effect; the cause expressed ver. 16; the effect, ver. 17; the cause was the re-building the tabernacle of David; the effect, the calling of the residue of men, or the Gentiles. The tabernacle of David was to be re-built, "that the residue of men, &c." Now St. James himself argues, that the effect had commenced; of course therefore the cause was in existence; the residue of men had begun to call upon the name of the Lord; and, therefore, the tabernacle of David was already re-built.

Let us now inquire what was this re-building? I answer, by referring to the following passages of Scripture: Is. xvi. 5; Luke i. 32, 69, 70; Acts ii. 30; Ezek. xxxiv. 24, 25; Is. lv. 3, 4; &c. (See Scott's note upon Amos ix. 11.) It will, from these references, appear, that the rebuilding the tabernacle of David is "the resurrection, ascension, and heavenly exaltation of Christ." The exact phrase (according to our authorised version) "the tabernacle of David" occurs Is. xvi. 5 ; and there the kingdom of Christ is evidently intended. Here then we have a re-building of the tabernacle of David, not in a literal, but in a figurative sense. Now St. James gives this quotation as the sense of the prophets; not of this one passage from Amos alone, but of the prophets, in the plural; the prophets generally; of all of them, from first to last," as many as have spoken" of these things. We arrive therefore at this inevitable conclusion, that the kingdom of David was restored when Christ was exalted to the right hand of God; and this is the sense of the prophets; a figurative, not a literal sense.

And is not the restoring the kingdom of David a re-establishing of the glory of Judah and Israel? Suppose an advocate for the literal sense of the promises were to say, "God is faithful; the Jews cannot be disappointed of the things which he has promised them," may it not be answered, "True; God is faithful; but what has he promised them? has he not promised to re-build the tabernacle of David? and how has this been accomplished? not literally, but spiritually; and although every other part of the promises should be fulfilled literally, yet the omission of this would be the omission of a main part; yea, of so main a part, that all the rest without it is as nothing; the restoration of the kingdom of David is the restoring the kingdoms of Judah and Israel; and the restoring these is the sum-total of all these promises. Amos, and all the prophets, have spoken of this: and in Amos, chap. ix. we have a good sample of the general style of the prophetical language." In confirmation of the above argument, I refer the reader to the language of the three last prophets respecting Israel and Judah; and to the language of the New Testament speaking, in various places, of a spiritual Israel.

Do I then deny that God has mercies in store for his ancient people? God forbid; but I argue that these mercies are not to be sought for in a literal interpretation of the prophecies. I believe that there can be no greater mercy than a conversion to Christianity—I mean not in name, but the true reception of Christ by faith, the conversion of the heart to God; and whatever may be the nature of the millennium, I believe that when that happy period shall arrive, there will be no "middle wall of partition" between Jew and Gentile.

E. H.

ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL "A PLACE OF AMUSEMENT."

To the Editor of the Christian Observer.

THE compilers of the British Almanack for 1840, published by the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, Lord Brougham being the chairman, have the effrontery to designate the cathedral church of St. Paul as "a place of amusement;" and to direct the public thither under that name for gratuitous admission, at the very hours, both upon week-days and Sundays, when it is open exclusively for divine worship; the hours when it is not open for inspection, and when every loiterer is a profaner of sacred ordinances, and on the Lord'sday a sabbath-breaker. There is something peculiarly preposterous and insulting in making a cathedral the only place of public " amusement" in London which is open on a Sunday. It seems as if because the Dean and Chapter will not adopt Mr. Hume's proposal to abolish fees for inspection, the Useful Knowledge Society wishes to spite them, by sending a tumultuous crowd to perambulate the building during divine worship. The announcement is also fallacious, and may exasperate a rude throng to do mischief; for the cathedral is not open gratuitously during these hours, any more than at others, as respects the whispering-gallery, the outside galleries, the ball, the crypts, or any thing beyond the choir and the nave, which have always

been open from the time when the bell begins to ring for prayers, to the end of the service.

Having said thus much, I should not do justice to my convictions if I did not add, that the authorities of the cathedral are themselves to blame, for causing a crowd of persons to assemble to look at the monuments during divine service, from their not allotting other hours for free admission; nor is it any thanks to them that the public have gratuitous access at the time of service, but because the law of the land does not allow them to be excluded. If they would open the body of the building gratuitously the whole time between morning and evening service, they would carry public feeling with them in prohibiting any person from walking about during the hours of worship. I have myself seen a party of sailors obliged to pay out of their pittance to inspect Nelson's monument, who, if they had contrived their visit at the hours of service, could have seen it for nothing. This is a direct boon upon the desecration which Mr. Sidney Smith affects to complain of. There would be great inconvenience, and large expense for attendants, if multitudes of persons were admitted beyond the dome and nave; but these surely might be kept open gratuitously during the middle of the day.

The following is the passage alluded to:

"Places of Amusement open to the Public gratuitously.

"The Tower of London-but to see the Armoury costs 6d., the Regalia 2s. 6d. "The British Museum-Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and the whole of Easter and Whitsun weeks, except Saturday, from 10 till 4; from May to September, 10 to 7; closed the first week in January, May, and September, and on Christmas Day, Good Friday, and Ash Wednesday.-Young children excluded on Holidays.

"National Gallery-Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, and the whole of Easter and Whitsun weeks, except Saturday, from 10 till 5; closed for six weeks from the end of the second week in September, and on Christmas-Day and Good Friday.

"St. Paul's. Each week-day from 9 to 11; and from 3 to 4; and on Sunday from 10 to 12; and from 3 to 5.

"East India House Museum.-Saturday from 11 to 3; all the year except September.

"Soane Museum. Thursday and Friday during April, May, and June only, from 10 to 4. Tickets must be applied for previously, and will be sent by post.

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Society of Arts. Any day except Wednesday to strangers and mechanics. Hampton Court Palace.-Every day from 10 till 4.

"Kew Gardens.-Pleasure Grounds, Sunday and Thursday from 12 till sunset, from Midsummer to Michaelmas; the Botanical Gardens and Arboretum every day to strangers, from 1 to 3 at any season.

"Dulwich Gallery. Each week-day, except Friday, from 10 to 5 in summer; and from 11 to 3 in winter. Tickets to be had gratis of the most respectable print-sellers in London.

RUSTICUS.

SPECIMENS OF ROMANIST SUPERSTITION IN GERMANY.

To the Editor of the Christian Observer.

I SEND you the following extracts from a journal which I kept during a tour in Germany in the summer of 1838, which I trust will be acceptable to your readers, especially to such as have never visited

those countries where Popery is dominant: To any one familiar with Fox's Acts and Monuments, the Homilies of the Church of England, and many other books of the same period, wherein the superstitious practices of the Romish Church before the Reformation are unfolded, it will be interesting to compare the following notes of what I myself saw and wrote down on the spot, with the accounts they give of what was done three centuries ago, in the then Popish Church in England, and what is now doing every day in the Popish Churches of a neighbouring country in the present century.

At Dusseldorf I visited the Jesuits' church, the inside of which is gorgeously painted with white and gold, adorned with statues of saints, some holding saws, some swords, some pole-axes; St. Dionysius with his head in his arm, and Fras. Xavier brandishing a cross. On a side altar I saw a small wax figure of a child in a glass case, bedizened with ornaments, which, upon inquiry, I was told was "Jesus as a child." This altar was decked with flowers. In the body of the church stood a silver Britannia-metal image of St. Gonzala upon a stage with four poles attached to it, by which, a week ago, it was carried through the town. Before it stood a large wax candle,

wreathed with flowers.

At Cologne, in the Dom, is an image of the Virgin in a glass case, and underneath it "Consolatrix afflictorum," and around wax models of legs, arms, heads, tongues, young children, and votive offerings, to commemorate the cure of all the ills that flesh is heir to, and to rob Him" who healeth all our diseases" of those praises which alone are his due. On Sunday the shops are open, and women crying cherries to sell in the street. In the church of St. Mary, in the Capitol, is an ancient crucifix near the altar, with several silver hearts hung round the Saviour's neck. Stored in glass cases on one altar, are numerous relics looking like small dirty pincushions, and old bits of rags, and bones, decked with gold and silver wire, and labelled S. fructuosa. S. Audacii. S. Christina. S. Dioscori. S. Wolteri. S. Catherina. S. Ursulæ. S. Agnoræ. S. Mathæi. S. pěregoni. S. pĕregoni. On another altar are things like heart-shaped pincushions, inscribed "De S. Oswaldo, de S. Clemente." In the chapel of a certain Burgomaster, on the altar, are pyramidal glass cases, containing relics, dirty-looking scraps tied round with gold thread, labelled, some with "generosa,' some with "desiderio." In St. Ursula's church are preserved the remains of the patron saint and her eleven thousand virgin companions. Above the arches of the aisles, the walls are hung with large glass cases, divided with gilt mullions into panes, behind each of which is a virgin's skull. Through holes and gratings, the walls are also seen full of their bones, as are also the walls of St. Gereon full of those of the martyred Roman legion. Between Cologne and Bonn, is a village church dedicated to St. Clement; and before it a crucifix, with a money-box below it with this inscription," Clemens dabat Christo." Every one acquainted with Papal logic will readily draw the conclusion.

At Krenzberg, near Bonn, in the church, is a handsome flight of steps, of red Italian marble, said to be made in resemblance of those in Pilate's judgment-hall, which must only be ascended upon the knees; and to the devout this is a highly meritorious exercise. For the profane, or those in a hurry, there is an ordinary flight on one

side. In the marble are small grates, through which are seen relics in abundance. This is called a "Sancta Scala," and is not unusual in other Popish churches.

In the church at Altenahr I saw an engraving representing Purgatory, pasted upon a pillar, and above it an address exciting charitable contributions for the saying of masses to deliver the souls therein.

At Frankfort in the Dom, the chapel where the emperor was formerly chosen is full of Popish traps, like the property-room of a theatre; statues of saints, and crosses gilt and silvered, banners, crucifixes, crosiers, canopies, &c. &c. In nearly all the cathedrals I found a property-room.

At Bischoffsheim I entered a small chapel on the road side, and found a country man, standing before the altar, repeating over and over again the same words, in which I could only distinguish " Maria,” and every now and then he turned his head aside, irreverently spitting on the steps. The whole walls of the chapel were covered with native offerings and images gaily dressed.

In the chapel in the Marienberg at Warzburg, a very strong hold of priesthood, is a picture of the Virgin appearing to some shepherds near Bamberg. Children made of wax, for offerings, are exposed for sale in the confectioners' shops.

At Bamberg, in the Pfarrkirche, behind the altar, is an image of Christ; and underneath, the usual group of Joseph and Nicodemus preparing the body of Christ for interment, which I saw a woman at Vespers approach and kiss most fervently, and then kiss the other image of Christ, first his feet and then his knees, the paint at which part was quite worn off. Near at hand was an image laid along in a glass case, before which several women were kneeling; and around hundreds of legs and other members, and children of wax, were hung. From the preponderance of the latter, and the sex of the worshippers, I judged it to be the Diva Lucina of a Popish temple--the Virgin in that character.

On the north side of the cathedral of Augsburg is a chapel of the Virgin, hung upon a pillar of which I saw a paper, upon which was printed "Two hundred days' indulgence." On a prayer-stool near, lay a printed prayer, pasted on a board, for the use of the congregation, as the manner is, to St. John Nepomuc. In another chapel, containing a statue of Christ, was a board, hung upon which was, "Every Friday two hundred days' indulgence." This day was a festival, commemorating the establishment of peace between the Protestants and Papists at the Reformation, and consequently the church was thronged with votaries. In St. Ulric's and St. Apon's church, the same day, I saw the remains of the latter laid in a shrine of gold, with glass panels, adorned with all sorts of tinsel; numerous men and women praying before him, and flowers and flower-pots around his altar. Upon the wall I saw suspended a picture of the Virgin and Child, each with silver crosses, the former with a gold chain on her neck, and a necklace apparently of precious stones, as well as bracelets. Before her hung wax eyes, livers, bladders, heads, &c.

At Bruck, a small town between Augsburg and Munich, I strolled into the church-yard, where the graves were planted with flowers, and many of the tombs rather elegant. To all of them