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could benefit a fellow creature: if he could assuage the anguish of distress, lighten the pressure of calamity, calm the disquietude of a troubled mind, inspire the timid with hope, or lead the wanderer into the way of truth. For all these acts of love, of sympathy, of kindness, he never wanted time. Whatever else might require his attention, he still found opportunity for these. He considered them, as in fact they are, an important and indispensable part of Christian duty, and admitted no plea of business, no private gratification, no personal fatigue, to be an excuse for the neglect of them.

But it was not only in the grand feature of benevolence that the Bishop displayed the power of religion over the heart and conduct. It was in him a governing and a ruling principle. It was the main spring, which constantly and uniformly regulated his thoughts and actions. He had, indeed, and who has not, his foibles and infirmities. They were however few, and venial, and almost unavoidable. For instance, amidst the toil and hurry of a laborious station, and from great anxiety in what he was engaged in, he sometimes betrayed, in the latter part of his life, a slight impatience of manner. But he instantly checked it, and no one more lamented it than himself. His disposition, indeed, with the exception of such occasional, transient interruptions, arising from the causes I have mentioned, was one of the mildest and the sweetest that can be imagined. It was the index of a heart warmed with all

the charities and sympathies of our nature, and under the constant influence of a meek, a benevolent, and a kind religion. In all the offices of devotion, private and public, he was unfailing and exemplary. Firm in his belief of Christianity, every thing connected with it engaged his attention. It was his great end and aim to defend, to cherish, to promote it. The predominant object of all his wishes and desires was, " in every thing he did, to do it to the glory of God." Yet, amidst a conduct so holy and so pure, he had no melancholy, no austerity, no gloom. In him were never seen the sanctified look, the depressed brow, the sullen spirit, the dismal and desponding countenance. Piety, as he felt and understood it, was best exemplified by cheerfulness. He saw no incompatibility in the innocent pleasures of life with the most unfeigned devotion. He wished to render religion as amiable as she is venerable; to place her before the eyes of men in her most alluring and attracting form

bright, serene, unclouded, and benign. In a word, to represent her, not as the enemy and the bane of happiness, but as the guide, the companion, the solace, the delight of man. His own character was framed on this principle. He was cheerful without levity, serious and devout without moroseness. lived, in short, as he taught others to live; and this it was which, far beyond any other cause, gave such power, such weight, such efficacy to his preaching.

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From

CARDINAL OF SION.

From the Life of Ulrick Zwingle, the Swiss Reformer, by J. G. Hess: translated by Lucy Aikin.

The pope's legate, Matthew Schinner, known in history under the name of the Cardinal of Sion, acted a very important part in Switzerland during a number of years. Born of poor parents in a village of the Valais, he chose the ecclesiastical profession, as being the only one which could open the path of honour to men of every class. After studying successively at Sion, Zurich, and Como, he returned to his own country, where he obtained a small cure. He led a sober and laborious life, devoting to study the leisure allowed by his clerical functions. Chance brought him acquainted with Jost de Silenen, bishop of Sion, who having stopped at his house on one of his visitations, was greatly astonished to find in the dwelling of a poor parish priest, books of jurisprudence and canon law; and entering into conversation with him, was struck with the extent of his knowledge and his facility of expression. He assured him of his protection, and soon performed the promise, by conferring on him the first canonry vacant at Sion. Some years afterwards, Jost de Silenen had several contests with the people of the Valais, in consequence of which he was obliged to quit this country. Schinner, who happened to be at Rome upon some affairs of his chapter, took advantage of this circumstance, and obtained of the pope the bishopric of Sion for himself. This elevation would have satisfied an

ordinary ambition, but Schinner carried his views further. He felt himself possessed of talents sufficient to distinguish him on a wider theatre, and the situation of his country furnished him with the opportunity. France had neglected to attach him, but pope Julius granted him his entire confidence; he made him a Cardinal in 1511, and named him legate of the holy see in Switzerland, and from that time Schinner remained inviolably attached to Rome. We may imagine how great an ascendency was given him by his ecclesiastical dignities, joined to an artful and insinuating eloquence, and an austerity of manners rare among the prelates of his time. By his intrigues and his promises, he obtained permission of the cantons to levy troops for the assistance-of the pope against Louis XII. who had just been excommunicated.

ZWINGLE.

From the same.

When we think of all that he performed during his abode at Zurich, it seems as if a whole life would scarcely suffice for so many labours; yet it was in the short space of twelve years that he succeeded in changing the manners, the religious ideas, and the political principles of his adopted country, and in founding establishments, many of which have endured for three centuries. Such is the power of a man who is governed by a single purpose; who pursues one only end, from which he suffers himself to be diverted neither by fear, nor by seduction! The frivolous pleasures and amuse

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ments of the world occupied no place in the life of Zwingle; his only passion was to propagate truth, his only interest to promote its triumph; this was the secret of his means, and his success.

If Zwingle disdained those pleasures which can neither enlarge the faculties of the mind, nor procure real enjoyment, be at least knew how to appreciate the enjoyments of intimate society. It was in the midst of his friends that he sought relaxation from labour, His serenity and cheerfulness gave a great charm to his conversation; his temper was naturally hasty, and he sometimes gave way too much to his first feelings; but he knew how to efface the painful impression that he had produced, by a prompt and sincere return of kindness. Incapable of retaining the smallest degree of rancour from the recollection of his own faults, or those of others, he was equally inaccessible to the sentiments of hatred, jealousy, and envy. The amiable qualities of his disposition gained him the attachment of his colleagues, who united around him as a common centre; and it is worthy of remark, that at this period, when all the passions were in motion, nothing ever troubled the harmony that prevailed among them: yet they were neither united by family connections, nor by early acquaintance; they were strangers attracted to Zurich by the protection afforded to the reformed, or sent for by Zwingle to take part in the labour of public instruction. They came with habits already formed, with ideas al ready fixed, and of an age when the ardour of youth, so favourable to the formation of friendships,

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was past; but a stronger tie than any other united them-their common interest in the new light that began to dawn over Europe. These learned men communicated to each other all their ideas without reserve: they consulted upon the works that they meditated, and sometimes united their talents and their knowledge in undertakings which would have exceeded the powers of any one singly. dangers that they had to fear for theaiselves, the persecutions to which they saw their partizans exposed in the neighbouring countries, served to draw the bonds of their friendship still closer. our days each individual seems to be connected by a thousand threads with all the members of a society; but these apparent ties have no real strength, and are broken by the first shock. The men of the 16th century had something more masculine and more profound in their affections; they were capable of a forgetfulness of self which we find it difficult to conceive. The friends with whom Zwingle had encircled himself, loved him with that entire devotedness which only belongs to strong minds: without base adulation or servile deference, they did homage to the superiority of his genius, while the reformer was far from abusing bis ascendancy over them, so as to make it the means of erecting a new spiritual dictatorship on the ruins of the old one.

There is nothing exaggerated in the morality of Zwingle. It announces a man who is a zealous friend of virtue, but who knows the world and its temptations; who requires from no one a chimerical perfection, and who, notwithstanding

withstanding the severity of his own morals, preserves his indulgence for the weakness of others.

The more we examine the writings of Zwingle, and reflect on the whole tenour of his life, the more shall we be persuaded that the love of virtue and the desire of rendering himself useful, were the sole springs of his actions. "A generous mind," would he often say, "does not consider itself as belonging to itself alone, but to the whole human race. We are born to serve our fellow creatures, and by labouring for their happiness, even at the hazard of our repose or our life, we approach most nearly to the Deity."

His whole conduct proves that these words were the genuine exexpression of his sentiments. If interest had swayed him, he would not have been contented with a small income, when it would have been easy for him to dispose of all the property of the church. If he had been ambitious of rule, he would have exacted a blind submission from his disciples, and would have preserved to the clergy their former power; if the love of fame had moved him, he would have attached his name to his institutions; but he had nothing in view but the public good. A stranger to all personal consider ations, he was wholly occupied in establishing the reformation, and appeared indifferent to his own glory.

- DOMESTIC LIFE OF MR. FOX.

From Mr. Trotter's Memoirs of the latter years of the Right Honourable Charles James Fox.

The domestic life of Mr. Fox was equally regular and agreeable. VOL. LIII.

In summer he rose between six and seven; in winter before eight. The assiduous care, and excellent management of Mrs. Fox, rendered his rural mansion the abode of peace, elegance, and order, and had long procured her the gratitude and esteem of those private friends, whose visits to Mr. Fox, in his retirement at St. Anne's Hill, made them witnesses of this amiable woman's exemplary and endearing conduct. I confess I carried with me some of the vulgar prejudices respecting this great man! How completely was I undeceived! After breakfast, which took place between eight and nine in summer, and at a little after nine in winter, he usually read some Italian author with Mrs. Fox, and then spent the time preceding dinner at his literary studies, in which the Greek poets bore a principal part.

A frugal, but plentiful dinner took place at three, or half past two, in summer, and at four in winter; and a few glasses of wine were followed by coffee. The evening was dedicated to walking and conversation till tea-time, when reading aloud, in history, commenced, and continued till near ten.

A light supper of fruit, pastry, or something very trifling, finished the day; and at half past ten the family were gone to rest; and the next and succeeding dawn. ushered in the same order and elegance, and found the same con-tent, the same happiness, and the same virtuous and useful life.

he was beginning to turn his atAt the period to which I allude, tention to an historical work, and our readings after tea were directed to the furtherance of this grand and useful object. Happy were D d

those

those evenings, when the instruction of the historian-the pointed remarks of the statesman-and all the ease and happiness of domestic society were united. The occasional visits of men of talents and high character sometimes pleasingly interrupted the evening's employment; but I have never seen Mr. Fox more perfectly happy than when we were quite alone. He was so utterly divested of a wish to shine, or of any appetite for flattery, that he in no manner required what is called company, to enliven or animate him. A lover of nature, and consequently an enemy to art, he held, I think, above every quality, sincerity and unaffectedness; and, being also of a character singularly domestic and amiable, he found in his little circle all he wished and wanted. To his other attainments he had added a very considerable knowledge of Botany; and, without making it a primary object, enjoyed every pursuit connected with agriculture, in a high degree,

Though many estimable, and subsequently very elevated characters, visited at St. Anne's Hill, I never liked it so well, as when we were quite alone. There was a perfect originality of character in Mr. Fox, that made his society always new, and always preferable to that of most other men. Professional cant, and party ideas in general, give a monotony to the minds of distinguished members of society. Accustomed to view things constantly in one way, and not seeking for new ideas, but rather occupied in advancing or defend ing their old ones, their conversation does not create new sensations, and frequently wearies ra

ther than delights. Mr. Fox himself was so little obtrusive in this respect, that I recollect feeling a good deal of embarrassment at first, on observing how frequently he was inclined to silence, waiting for others to begin a conversation. I soon discovered, however, that he was pleased at its originating with another; and, so great was his benevolence, as well as unbounded his capacity, that whatever was started, in the smallest degree interesting, useful, or natural, received illustration and indulgent investigation from him. How well do I recollect the mornings when he came down to breakfast-how benignant and cheerful-how pleased with every thing

how free from worldly passions, and worldly views he was! Nor were Mrs. Fox's captivating

:

manners conducive in a faint manner to the harmonizing of every thing around the watchful and refined attention she paid to her guests anticipated every thing they could desire, and charmed away every feeling of embarrassment, which diffidence, in the presence of so exalted a character, might be apt to occasion.

At breakfast, the newspaper was read, commonly by Mr. Fox, as well as the letters which had arrived; for such was the noble confidence of his mind, that he concealed nothing from his domestic circle, unless it were the faults, or the secrets of his friends. At such times, when the political topics of the day were naturally introduced by the paper, I never could observe the least acrimony or anger against that party which so sedulously, and indeed successfully, had laboured to exclude him from the management of affairs, by mis

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